


Time, Snow, and Cocoa

by jenncho



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas Fluff, I've watched so many Christmas movies and this is the result of that, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies, M/M, Mistletoe, Small references to The Nutcracker, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:54:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28035003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenncho/pseuds/jenncho
Summary: A chance encounter with a mysterious antique dealer coupled with and an unexpected snow storm brings a stranger into Oscar's life who is determined to show him the true meaning of Christmas.
Relationships: Andy Bernard/Oscar Martinez
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	1. Schrute and Drosselmeyer?

**Author's Note:**

> This is cheesy fluff mixed with some Christmas magic and I am determined to have it finished before Christmas!

To say Scranton in the winter was cold and miserable was an understatement. Cold and miserable Oscar could relate to. But **_this_**. Oscar frowned and he pulled his jacket tighter around himself and got into his car to leave his office for the long holiday break.

His mother had been begging him to come visit her and his sisters in Miami for years but Oscar would often think of excuses to get out of it. It wasn’t too difficult to blame it on work being that he was an accountant and the end of the year was their busiest time. 

His older sister had caught on to him and guilted him by insisting they didn’t know how many years their mother had left and that he’d honestly regret not seeing her more often. He hated admitting he was wrong, so he reluctantly agreed to take the vacation time he’d not used this year and spend the rest of it with his family. His boss looked at him in surprise when the request came through. He hadn’t taken off for the holidays in the 12 years he’d known him. It was approved without question.

Oscar placed two large shopping bags into the trunk of his car and turned back to the shops. He really should’ve done all of this online and had it shipped to his sisters, but Christmas eve was only three days away and he didn’t want to risk his gifts not arriving on time. He’d just have to deal with paying the extra baggage fees. 

He looked down at his list, he’d crossed off everyone except for his mother. After spending the last three hours in every store in his area he had still come up empty. He’d usually get her a nice perfume or some jewelry, but really needed to up his game this year. He saw a few really nice scarves, but it didn’t get cold enough in Miami for her to ever use them. Shopping for someone who lived in a warm climate while you were currently living in below zero temperatures was more than slightly challenging. 

Oscar let out a sigh of defeat, the puff of air visible in the frigid cold. He headed back to his car when a flickering light caught his eye. He squinted to see if he could read the sign, but it was a bit too faded from his side of the street. Oscar crossed the street to get a closer look and let out a small noise of interest. It appeared to be an antique shop of some kind. He had lived here his whole life and couldn’t ever remember seeing it before. Judging from the look of the sign and door, it had been here quite a while. A stiff wind practically pushed him forward, and Oscar made his way inside to escape the cold.

The door opened with a slight creaking sound. The bell on top let out a sharp ding in the otherwise quiet shop. Oscar looked at the counter and frowned when he didn’t see anyone there. With a small shrug he put his hands in his pockets to warm them and began to look around the antique shop.

Most of the items seem to have been hand carved, and looked fairly old. That could only mean they were horrendously expensive. Oscar stopped in front of a small wooden doll of a little girl and leaned in to take a closer look. He didn’t know much about antique dolls, but he could appreciate beautiful work when he saw it. The combination of paint and carving on her dress made the fabric look almost real. He carefully turned her to look for a price tag and rolled his eyes when he found nothing.

“That’s a Drosselmeyer original.” A voice came from behind Oscar. He let out a surprised gasp and fumbled slightly. He looked down at the doll in horror that he may have damaged it, but let his shoulders drop in relief when it looked unharmed. The other man didn’t seem bothered by Oscar’s reaction and continued.

“Not nearly as good as the work of a Schrute, but if you’re looking for something that you don’t mind giving to a small child to gnaw on… it’s acceptable.” Oscar looked up at the man in confusion. 

“What do you mean? This is beautiful.” Oscar put the doll back down carefully and took in the stern looking man in front of him. He had about half a foot on him in height, however, it was his clothes that had caught Oscar’s attention. He wore a green waistcoat that appeared to be three inches too short. He could see the red suspenders peeking out of the bottom. He wore a dark blue blazer over that, and it looked like he had some type of white cravat around his neck. The glasses it looked like he got from a Walgreens and his hair was parted down the center. It was certainly a look that was for sure.

“Why don’t you tell me what you’re looking for?” The man asked. 

“I am looking for a Christmas present for my mother, actually.” Oscar explained. 

“Ah, yes.” He smiled. “I don’t imagine her teeth are in any condition to gnaw on that.” He looked at the doll with amusement. 

“Why would she…” Oscar looked at him with deep confusion before stopping himself. “Never mind.” He shook his head. “Do you have any recommendations? Maybe something Christmassy that she can put up for the holidays?”

The man looked over at Oscar and considered his question. “Christmassy?” 

“You know? Reindeer, candy canes. Singing angelic children.” Oscar looked at the other items on the shelf. “All that holiday, gimmicky stuff that people seem to love. Just something nice she can look at.”

“Not a fan of Christmas, then?” He asked in that same odd tone.

“Never have been really.” Oscar answered truthfully. “Who has time for any of that nonsense these days? You eat too much, spend too much money, and then sit around in an uncomfortable holiday themed sweater in absolute misery when you could be at work actually accomplishing something.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling this strange man this, but if it meant he could just buy something already and leave so be it. 

“Indeed.” He smiled knowingly at Oscar. It was a little off putting. Like he knew exactly what kind of person Oscar was, which was ridiculous. “Come with me.” He nodded for Oscar to follow him to the front counter.

Oscar watched him walk away wearily but followed. He felt like wrapping his arms tighter around himself to keep from touching or accidentally knocking anything off the shelves.

“I’m not looking to break the bank here.” Oscar explained. He loved his mother, but he wasn’t going to spend $1500 on something stupid like a nutcracker. 

“I think we can find something for you.” He gave Oscar a long look before putting his hand up. “Wait here. I have just the thing.” He disappeared behind a curtain leaving Oscar alone at the counter. 

Oscar looked down at the different hand carved wooden rings and brooches inside the glass display. That wouldn’t be too bad. It was still jewelry, sure, but at least it looked a bit more like he put some actual thought into it. He spotted something he liked and would ask about it when the man returned.

No sooner had the thought come to him the curtain pulled back sharply causing Oscar to once again jump in surprise. The smile on the man’s face made Oscar think that he had done that on purpose. He put a dusty wooden box down and blew off the dust causing Oscar to cough. _God, this man was excruciating._

“Apologies.” He said in a tone that indicated that was not in fact sorry at all. “Here we are.” Using both hands, the man carefully removed a medium sized standing coo coo clock. Oscar took one look at it and could tell the craftsmanship on this was not something he’d ever seen before. 

It was a Christmas scene framed by trees that were hand painted with white specks of snow. The carvings were so precise that you could feel the wind in the elegant swirls. It looked too delicate to even look at, let alone touch. He peered closer and inside the shop at the base, was a little man inside the glass window. He was holding an instrument of some kind, and wore a red shirt from what he could tell. Oscar had no idea how the artist managed to make everything look so lifelike, but he was impressed.

“That’s gorgeous. It looks very old.” Oscar said as he stood up straight again. The man nodded and gave him a look that screamed _‘Of course it is, you idiot.’_

He wound the clock and within moments the figure of the man with his tiny instrument emerged playing a lovely Christmas melody.

“It’s the only one of its kind.” The man said. “It was handmade in Germany by my great grandfather, Stahlbaum Schrute, and his business partner, Drosselmeyer.” He said with a voice full of pride. He then carefully turned it over to show Oscar the writing on the bottom. In what appears to be in two different styles, carved into the wood was “Handcrafted by S” and then next to that, “and D” painted in a much more elegant script.

“S and D.” Oscar said aloud. “Schrute and Drosselmeyer?”

“Precisely.” The man said. 

“You’re a Schrute, then?” Oscar asked.

“Dwight Schrute.” He said, standing even taller somehow.

“Well, Mr. Schrute. This is a beautiful clock, but I don’t think this is anywhere close to my price range.” Oscar said firmly. He wasn’t even going to try to negotiate on this. This looked like it was well over 2 grand.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Dwight said. He gently lifted the clock and placed it back in the wooden box. “I could make you a very good deal.” He told Oscar.

“Why would you do that?” Oscar crossed his arms. Something was off about this. “This has been in your family for a while if what you’re saying is true. What kind of deal could you possibly make me?”

“I don’t show this to everyone you know.” Dwight carefully wiped off the remaining dust. 

“Why me then?” Oscar asked, even more confused than before.

“I could tell the moment you walked in here that you wouldn’t be satisfied with something ordinary.” Dwight looked him straight in the eye. “I bet you went into five or six stores trying to find the perfect gift, but nothing felt right, did it?”

“I…how...” Oscar found himself tripping over his words. This is not the kind of person he was, and he did not like feeling like an idiot.

“I took one look at you and knew exactly what you needed.” Dwight said with a nod.

“And what is it that I needed? Other than something around $100 for my mother?” Oscar found his words.

“Some Christmas spirit, of course!” He responded with an overly bright smile that, on him, looked borderline manic.

“I have enough Christmas spirit, thank you.” Oscar said sarcastically.

“I don’t think you do. In fact, in the spirit of giving, I am not even going to charge you for this.” Dwight pushed the box towards Oscar who looked at him in disbelief.

“Are you out of your mind?” Oscar practically shouted, pushing the box back to Dwight. 

“Oh, I am perfectly sane.” He gave that knowing look again. Oscar glanced at the front door, almost sure the door wasn’t closed all the way because he felt a cold breeze down his spine.

“You don’t even know me. That clock must cost thousands of dollars and you’re just going to give it to me?” Oscar asked in disbelief.  


“Yes.” Dwight responded.

“Because it’s Christmas?” That was the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.

“Exactly.” Dwight nodded. “I won’t take no for an answer, I'm afraid, and you’ll insult me if you refuse to accept.”

“How do I know there isn’t some kind of tracking device in this thing and I’m going to come back from my vacation to an empty house?” Oscar wouldn’t be surprised if this was all one giant scam.

“Well, that wouldn’t be very Christmassy would it?” Dwight asked him like he was a 3 year old.

Oscar looked down at his watch and let out a suffering sigh. He really needed to get home and finish packing all of these gifts into his suitcase. He really didn’t have time to argue with his man and he’d been to every single shop in Scranton at this point.

“Alright. I accept. Thank you.” Oscar said, trying to put as much gratitude as he could into the words.

“No, thank you.” Dwight smiled at him. “I’m happy to see this is finally going to a good home.”

“Are you sure I can’t give you something for this?” Oscar pulled out his wallet but Dwight stopped him.

“I insist. Knowing that this will finally be displayed as intended and not packed away for another year is all the payment I need.” It was odd, his voice sounded sincere but something about his eyes was putting Oscar off. He looked down at his watch one last time and decided to just screw it. He picked up the box and followed Dwight who opened the door for him. The cold from outside was like a punch in the face. Oscar let out a shiver but it didn’t appear to have any effect on Dwight at all. 

“Thank you.” Oscar smiled politely. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Schrute.” Oscar said as he walked out of the store and to his car.

Dwight stood at the door and watched as Oscar got into his car pulled away. “Merry Christmas to you as well.” Dwight said with a mischievous smile before closing the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine Dwight's outfit to be very similar to what he wore during the garden party episode.


	2. A Storm Rolls In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A huge snow storm rolls in and ruins Oscar's travel plans.

Oscar quickly made his way into the house, arms full of shopping bags and the antique clock. He closed the door with his foot, wincing as the door slammed a bit harder than he would’ve liked. It had just started snowing fairly hard on his drive home and he could only hope that it stopped soon.

He placed the wooden box on the coffee table in his living room, taking the shopping bags with him and placing them at the foot of his bed. He laid out all of his clothes and gave everything a long look before putting a few shirts back in his closet. He needed to make room for the gifts he bought for his sister and nephew and, worst case scenario, he’d buy some clothes down there if he really needed to. He packed everything in as tightly as possible. At one point he had to practically sit on the bag to get it to close fully. He really hoped that there wasn’t anything in there that he needed before tomorrow because there was no way he’d be able get the bag closed again.

Oscar rolled the bag down the hall and placed it next to his front door. At least there was that done. He walked into the living room and stared at the wooden box. The clock he’d have to carry on with him. He really hoped that they wouldn’t give him a problem or force him to check it. There is no way it wouldn’t get absolutely trashed if he checked it, no matter how well he wrapped it up. His flight wasn’t until noon, so he had plenty of time in the morning to find a bag big enough to carry it.

Oscar looked down at his watch with a frown. It was a little after 9:30pm. He’d spent much longer shopping than he would’ve liked. He picked up his phone and called two of his go-to restaurants, but the messages on the line indicated that they’d closed due to inclement weather. Oscar turned on the tv with an annoyed groan. He was just outside less than an hour ago, it was snowing, but it wasn’t THAT bad out. He flipped the channel until he got to the local news. There was a banner going across the bottom of the screen warning about a blizzard that had just rolled in.

Oscar frowned and turned up the volume as the meteorologist came on the screen. They expected one to two feet of snow overnight. Some public transportation was shutting down, and flights have been delayed. Oscar let out a curse as he grabbed for his phone and called the airport to check on the status of his flight. After an hour and a half of being on hold he finally got on the line with a member of Customer Service.

“Delayed for how long?” Oscar pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt an immense migraine coming on.

“We do not have an estimated time, Sir. I would suggest giving us a call back in the morning or checking the website for updates on departures.”

“This isn’t the first snow storm we’ve ever had. You have to have some information.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot give you an estimated time, Sir. As I mentioned, if you are able to…”

“Call back tomorrow. Yes. I heard.” Oscar said, deeply frustrated. It wasn’t that bad out. He went over to his window and pulled the curtain to the side. Shit. He could barely see more than a few inches in front of him. Everything was covered in white.

Oscar hung up the phone and looked at the time. It was after eleven, but he knew that he had to call his sister to let her know what was happening with his flight. He wasn’t looking forward to it. As predicted, he got into a big argument with his sister. She accused him of finding any excuse to not show up yet again for Christmas. 

“That’s right, Marissa. Along with being an accountant I somehow also control the weather. I must’ve forgotten to mention that.” Oscar shouted into the phone.

She then played really dirty by putting him on the phone with his nephew whose voice sounded wobbly when Oscar mentioned that he might not make it in time for Christmas. It was a low blow. At the end of the call Oscar promised to do everything he could to be there by Christmas Eve. Hopefully the snow wouldn’t stick and his flight would go ahead as planned.

After he hung up, Oscar went straight for his liquor cabinet and poured himself a very large cup of wine which he drank much faster than someone who hadn’t eaten in over 9 hours should. He was already in a bad mood, the last thing he needed was his family giving him shit for something completely out of his control. Pouring himself a second glass he walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch.

This was just perfect. He hated this holiday. Nothing ever went right and now there was the possibility that he’d be stuck in Scranton. It would’ve been fine if he could at least work, but his boss had made it clear that Oscar’s files were being handled and that he was not to even think about working remotely. He didn’t want to even hear from Oscar until the new year.

Letting out a frustrated shout in his empty living room, Oscar turned off the news and put his feet up on the coffee table. He cursed whatever higher being that may be listening for not being able to wait 24 hours before covering the entire area in snow. Just once he’d like for something to go his way. Oscar looked over at the clock on the wall and squinted as he tried to read the time. He must’ve had a bit too much to drink because everything was a bit blurry. He swung his feet around to stand up and go to bed, but his left foot hit something hard on the way down.

Oscar’s sharply turned to his left and let out a horrified gasp as he realized what he’d done. He knocked the wooden box off of the table.

“NO, NO, NO!” Oscar shouted in a panic and he gently lifted the box back onto the table. He opened it up and pulled out the clock and inspected it. It looked okay. He let out a sigh of relief. Nothing looked broken or cracked. He ran his finger over the trim around the glass doors and turned his head to the side. The little man inside was leaning at a weird angle.

_Shit._

Oscar wound the clock like he saw the man at the shop do. The doors opened but the little man hadn’t moved. 

_Double shit._

He gently moved to open the doors with his finger and carefully moved the little man to a standing position. He wound the clock again and waited. He could hear the music but the man still did not move. He touched it gently with his finger and the man finally came out from his little window. Unfortunately as soon as he popped out, he fell off the track and onto the coffee table.

Oscar grabbed a decorative pillow from his couch and screamed into it. This was an absolute disaster. 

“Okay. Okay.” He said aloud to himself. He picked up the man and walked with him to his junk drawer looking for some wood glue. He let out a frustrated noise when he came up empty. “This is not a big deal. I’ll just go back to the shop tomorrow and that weird guy will fix it. My flight will leave on time. Everything is going to be fine.” Oscar felt himself panic even as the words left his mouth.

He grabbed for his phone and dialed 311 and waited for an operator to pick up.

“City, please.” The voice asked.

“S-scranton.” Oscar replied with a bit of a shake in his voice. He shouldn’t have had that second glass of wine.

After going through several prompts he realized that he couldn’t remember the name of the shop. He remembered the man’s first name being Dwight and then something with an S. He turned over the clock, hoping to see a full name somewhere but only saw the same markings as earlier “Handcrafted by S and D” on the bottom of the clock.

“It’s an antique store on Vine.” Oscar told the woman.

“Do you have a name?” She asked. _If I knew the name I wouldn’t need to call you, would I?_

“I don’t. I’m sorry.” Oscar apologized. “It’s the only antique store on Vine.”

“Give me just a moment.” The woman placed him on hold and Oscar grimaced as the Christmas music played. He had such a headache and this was not helping. 

“Thank you for your patience. We do not have any listings for an antique store on Vine Street. However, there is an antique store just off the expressway. Would you like the number and address for that?”

“No!” Oscar said sharply. “It has to be that specific store. Can you please check again. That place looked like it’s been there for 100 years. Can you please check again?”

“I’m sorry, Sir. I’ve checked our listings three times. I even checked our historical database and we do not have any listings for antique shops on Vine. Maybe it was a different street?” She asked.

“I know what street I was on.” Oscar responded.

“I am sorry, but if you can remember the name of the store please do give us a call back. Is there anything else I can assist you with?” The woman asked. Oscar knew he was being a dick, and it wasn’t her fault. 

“No. Thank you for your help.” Oscar said with an eye roll as he hung up the phone. This was absolutely perfect.

Oscar took one last look at the clock, placing the little man gently on the coffee table, and decided that he’d deal with it in the morning. He’d shovel out his car first thing and drive back to the shop and see if he could get it fixed quickly. 

Oscar turned his head sharply as his window rattled a bit from the strength of the wind outside. Everything was going to be completely fine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a strange man in Oscar's house.

Oscar leaned over the shut off his alarm with one hand, holding his pounding head tight with the other. He honestly hated how low his tolerance for alcohol had become. The headaches were never worth it in the end. He closed his eyes for another moment to enjoy a bit of peace before he'd need to call the airline, have an eventual argument with his family, and still somehow find time to rush back into town to get the clock fixed. He still couldn’t believe he had done that. He was not looking forward to that strange man’s expression at seeing that he’d accidentally broken a piece of it. He felt like such an idiot.

Sitting up with a groan Oscar rubbed his eyes and pushed his feet into his slippers. He walked to the chair near his closet and pulled on his robe and looked out the window. Unbelievable. The roads were piled high with snow. This was an absolute disaster. 

Oscar slowly made his way into the kitchen and turned on the switch to his coffee pot. He’d need a heroic amount of caffeine to get through this day. First things first, to call the airline. Oscar grabbed his phone and dialed the number of the airline, not at all shocked at the message promising longer than normal wait times. He put the phone down while he made his coffee, letting out a pleased sigh as the first sip. He felt the chill leave his body as he started to relax.

Grabbing the phone and his coffee he made his way into the living room and stopped short with what sounded like a very undignified scream. There was a man sitting on his couch. Oscar dropped his phone and his coffee, which smashed into pieces on the floor, spilling hot liquid everywhere. He grabbed for the first thing he could see which happened to be an umbrella. The man stood up and looked at Oscar in alarm.

“WHAT THE HELL!?” Oscar swung the umbrella at the man like it was a baseball bat. The man took a few steps back and put his hands up. Or at least one hand, the other was holding a wooden object of some kind.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?” Oscar shouted and swung again. The man barely dodged it. On the next swing he used the wooden object to block the umbrella from hitting his head.

“Take it easy! This is older than you are!” The man said with wide eyes as he placed it carefully on Oscar’s couch.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my house?” Oscar repeated angrily. Oscar could feel his heart racing. He knew it. There was probably a tracking device in that stupid clock. He should’ve listened to his instincts.

“I don’t know.” The man said with a confused look. “I don’t think I know.” He turned his head to look around, but kept one eye on Oscar in case he decided to try to hit him again.

“What do you mean you don’t think you know?” Oscar asked.

“I think I’m here for you.” The man turned to face Oscar with a hesitant smile and a shrug.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Oscar could feel himself losing whatever little patience he had left.

“No, it doesn’t.” The man agreed, still smiling.

“I don’t know who you are, or why he had you follow me, but you need to leave my house right now.” Oscar walked angrily over to the wooden box and pointed the umbrella’s pointy end at the man causing him to take a step back. Oscar put the clock back into the wooden box and pushed it into the man’s arms.

“Go! Take it with you.” Oscar pointed to the front door. “If I see your face again I’m calling the cops!” Oscar pushed him out of his front door and closed it with a bang as the man shouted something after Oscar. Locking the door behind him Oscar cursed as he took in the mess on his wooden floors. He grabbed a few paper towels and wiped up the mess, being careful of the broken pieces of his mug. He let out another expletive when he noticed that some of it had splashed onto the corner of the throw rug.

He’d deal with it after he got off the phone with the airline. Speaking of, Oscar turned in a circle trying to find where he dropped his phone. He spotted it under the coffee table and was relieved to see that in all the confusion he didn’t actually end the call. Sadly, he was still on hold. Another ten minutes later Oscar was on the line with a customer service representative who confirmed his worst fears. 

They had plows running non-stop on the tarmac but the snow was still coming down very hard and there was a zero percent chance of any flights going in or out today. Once again it was suggested that he check online for any updates as the wait times for customer service would be very long. 

“Well, it’s not like I have anything better to do than wait, is there?” Oscar said with some bitterness and hung up the phone. 

What a nightmare. Oscar moved the curtain and let out a groan of annoyance at the snow that had accumulated. He’d have to call his sister and explain the situation. This was clearly not his fault and if he needed to take pictures or tell her to call the airline herself he’d do that. He’d definitely need to sit for this conversation.

Walking back over to the couch, Oscar looked at the wooden object on resting there with curiosity. It looked to be a musical instrument of some sort. He lifted it up to inspect it further. It didn’t quite look like a banjo. It was much more round and egg shaped and had more strings than he’d ever seen on a guitar. He remembered the man shouting that it was old, and it did look it.

Oscar looked at the clock on the wall and back down at the instrument. Old or not, this probably also had a tracking or listening device in it as well and he would NOT have it in his house. After a very short deliberation Oscar walked toward the door and decided to throw it in the trash. Oscar opened the front door and let out a gasp of surprise. The strange man was standing in his driveway, still holding the wooden box, snow almost up to his knees. He wasn’t wearing a jacket and he didn’t seem to be moving. Just standing there quietly with his back to Oscar.

“Shit.” Oscar said quietly to himself. He’d have enough bad luck follow him around. The last thing he needed was bad karma for being responsible for causing someone to die of hypothermia.

“Hey!” Oscar shouted to him. Oscar felt a bit of panic start to rise when the man didn't immediately respond. _Oh, God. Please don’t be dead._

“Hello… Sir?” Oscar tried again. He let out a sigh of relief when the man turned to him with confusion. His cheeks were a bit red which was much better than the blue he expected. “You forgot this.” Oscar held up the instrument. Oscar saw the man’s eyes widen as he looked down at his hands, almost as if he was just realizing it was missing. He looked back up at Oscar hesitantly and Oscar waved him over.

“Just get inside before you freeze to death, please?” Oscar shouted after him. The man nodded and walked the two meters back to where Oscar was standing with some difficulty. The road appeared to be freshly plowed but Oscar’s driveway was not. 

Oscar held his door open and motioned for the man to enter. He gave Oscar a grateful smile and walked back into the house, placing the wooden box gently on a table. He then put both his arms out and Oscar handed him the instrument.

“Thank you.” The man said, holding it close as though it was precious to him. Maybe it was.

“Why were you just standing there? Were you trying to freeze to death?” Oscar questioned. 

“I don’t have anywhere else to go.” He replied with a shrug. As if that was a perfectly good explanation for almost getting yourself killed in below freezing temperatures. Oscar looked up and prayed for the strength to deal with this.

When Oscar looked back at the man, he took note of what he is wearing for the first time. His shirt and pants looked thin and expensive. Most importantly, it did not look at all warm. Oscar has no idea how this man was still standing. He watch him let out a small shiver and Oscar felt the guilt setting in.

“Come on.” He led him to the bathroom with a wave of his hand, opening the linen closet and handing the man a towel. “I’m going to get you some clothes. Do not make me regret this.” Oscar pointed a finger warningly at him. The man nodded and Oscar quickly made his way to his room.

 _Stupid. Stupid. What the hell are you thinking?_ Oscar was not a trusting person by nature and the fact that he was letting this strange man use his clothes and shower with zero idea of what he was doing here was completely out of character for him. Grabbing a pair of black sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt Oscar walked back to the bathroom and placed the clothes on the counter.

“Here. Wash up and get changed. You’ll catch pneumonia in that... “ Oscar gestured at the man’s clothes, “that!” The man nodded and gave Oscar a smile of gratitude. Oscar did not smile back but closed the door behind him to give him some privacy. He had other pressing matters to deal with.

The call with his sister went a bit better than he expected. She was still pissed off, but they’d apparently been watching the weather reports and understood that while Oscar was many things, he was not someone who had any control over weather patterns. This had all come basically out of nowhere. 

Oscar hung up the phone and rubbed his temples, willing his headache to subside. He sat in the blissful quiet for several minutes before something else hit his senses. He hadn’t been cooking anything, had he? Oscar raised his head and took in a long inhale. He could definitely smell smoke of some kind. He quickly turned to the bathroom and let out a loud curse as dropped the phone on the table and rushed over, barging into the bathroom.

Oscar’s eyes widened at the scene in front of him. The man appeared to have made a small fire in the sink using the potpourri and placed in the middle of it was his ceramic toothbrush holder that appeared to be filled with snow he collected outside the bathroom window.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Oscar shouted as he turned on the sink briefly to put out the fire. The man looked at him startled. 

“You said to get washed up, and your well looked unclean.” He pointed to the toilet that had a blue tint to the water. “I needed to warm up the water and this was all I could find. How did you do that?” He looked at the sink like it was magic.

“Are you insane?” Oscar asked. “Are you trying to burn my house down? Why the hell didn’t you just turn on the shower?”

The man looked at him absolutely lost. Oscar rolled his eyes and turned on the shower. He jumped back in shock before putting his hand out and hesitantly touched the water. “Fascinating.” He exclaimed. Oscar rolled his eyes.

“Shampoo and conditioner and soap are right over there.” He pointed at them. “Just get cleaned up and changed and DO NOT do anything else! Understand?”

“Yes. Yes, I understand.” He nodded but couldn’t take his eyes off the running water.

Oscar slowly backed out of the room, almost tempted to keep the door open a crack but decided against it. He did, however, stand outside the door for a few minutes until he heard a very pleased and loud laugh with some splashing sounds. Oscar rubbed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair in frustration before backing away. He’d rather clean up water than fire. 

By the time Oscar finished making them both coffee, he could hear the water finally turn off and it was quiet again. Oscar briefly thought about going in there but instead walked over to listen at the door for a moment. He could hear the sounds of the man moving around but he didn’t hear anything worrying so he walked back to the kitchen. 

Moments later the bathroom opened and the man appeared wearing one of Oscar’s old shirts, and a pair of sweatpants that were slightly baggy, but came up to the top of his ankles. Unsurprising considering the man was taller than him. Oscar briefly noted that the blue of the shirt somehow made his eyes brighter in a way the red of his other shirt managed to hide. There were still some water droplets in his short beard. He wondered what he’d look like with a clean shaven face.

“Thank you,” The man smiled, putting his boots down next to him and interrupting Oscar’s honestly bizarre thoughts. 

“You’re welcome” Oscar said hesitantly as he took the clothes from him and put them in the laundry basket, but from the looks of them they probably would need to be dry cleaned. 

“I made some coffee.” Oscar said awkwardly. He handed a cup to the man who took a sip and pulled back with a slightly disgusted look on his face. 

“This is awful.” He put the cup on the counter. Oscar had never been more offended in his entire life. 

“Hey!” Oscar pointed at him. The man looked at Oscar startled for a moment before a look of understanding overtook him.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” He said, grasping Oscar's outstretched hand to him and chastely kissing the back of it quickly. Oscar tugged his hand away with an embarrassing squeak. 

“What the hell was that?” Oscar looked back and forth from his hand to the man in front of him. He looked at Oscar blankly and pointed up. There was mistletoe hanging in the middle of his kitchen. Oscar’s mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to find his voice.

“Did you put that there?” Oscar accused the man. 

“Do you have any hot cocoa?” He asked instead. Oscar could feel his blood pressure rising.

“First you break into my house. Then you almost burn it down. You insult my coffee, KISS ME, and now you want me to make you hot chocolate? Am I understanding you correctly?”

“Hot cocoa.” The man clarified. 

“It’s the same thing.” Oscar scoffed at him. The man’s face turned very serious all of sudden.

“No. It’s not.” He said, looking at Oscar like he was the ridiculous one here.

“Regardless, I don’t have either. So you can drink the coffee, and tell me who the hell you are, or you can grab your stuff and go back into the cold. Your choice.” Oscar crossed his arms and let the man decide.

He looked back down at the coffee and wrinkled his nose. He picked it up and took a small sip, doing a terrible job at hiding his distaste for it. _God this man was an actual child._

He mumbles something to Oscar who looked at him in confusion. 

“What was that?” Oscar leaned forward slightly.

“My name. I think that’s my name.” He picked up his boot to show the gold script across the bottom.

“And D.” Oscar read out loud. 

“Yes. And D.” The man nodded.

“You don’t know your own name?” Oscar asked him incredulously. Oscar briefly glanced over at the meat tenderizer on his counter. This man appeared to be unwell and Oscar was starting to regret allowing him back in his house.

“I’ve never needed one before.” He shrugged. “And D. Endee.” He tried it out a few different times while Oscar looked at him like he was from another planet. Best to go along with it for now until he could get the full story. No reason to spook him.

“Well, how about we just call you Andy? Sounds a bit more natural.” Oscar interrupted the man’s repetitions. 

"Ann-deeee. Andy." He then tried. “I like it.” He smiled at Oscar, and then let out another face of disgust as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Andy it is.” Oscar said with amusement. They stood awkwardly in the kitchen drinking their coffee before Oscar broke the silence again.

“So, let’s try this again, Andy.” Andy smiled at the use of his new name. “What are you doing in my house?”

“I’m not really sure.” Andy admitted. “Last thing I remember I was sitting in my house playing my lute and…”

“Lute?” Oscar interrupted. Andy pointed at the instrument resting against the wall.

“Yes. My lute.” Andy confirmed before continuing. “I was practicing a song for our Christmas Fair and the next thing I know everything started shaking and I hit my head on my fireplace mantle and I woke up right over there.” He pointed towards Oscar’s living room

 _Ah. It all makes sense now._ Oscar thought to himself. He obviously has some kind of head injury or concussion and he’s confused. He must've wondering outside and with all the confusion with the snow accidentally walked into Oscar's house.

“Maybe you should go to the hospital.” Oscar suggested. Andy looked at him in confusion. “You should have your head checked out.”

“Oh, no. I feel wonderful. The hot water really helped.” He smiled at Oscar again.

“So you live around here, then?” Oscar asked. He wasn’t the friendliest of neighbors so it wouldn’t surprise him if he’d just never noticed him before.

“No.” Andy shook his head. “I’m from somewhere a lot colder than this.” 

“Well that explains why you didn’t freeze to death outside my house.” Oscar said more to himself than to Andy.

Oscar walked to the living room and sat down on the couch as Andy walked over what they’ve now established was Andy’s lute. He wasn’t aware that anyone outside of a Renaissance Faire even played those anymore. Maybe that’s where Andy got the outfit?

“Why a lute?” He asked as Andy strummed it softly.

“I used to have a horn, but they took it away because it was too annoying.” He said matter of factly. “I loved it. I’d play it all day until I was too tired to hold it up anymore. Day and night. RIT DIT DIT DA DOO!” He mocked playing a horn and yeah, Oscar get’s why that would’ve gotten annoying. “Then they gave me this which is nice. But not as nice as the horn.” 

Andy started to play a cheery song that sounded vaguely like something Oscar had heard before, but couldn’t quite place. 

“That’s nice.” Oscar reluctantly complimented. Andy smiled so brightly that Oscar had to look away.

“Thank you! I’ve been working on it for the last 50 years!” Andy said, the excitement clear in his voice. Oscar rolled his eyes at the exaggeration. 

Once he finished his coffee Oscar went to get changed and left Andy on the couch playing his lute. He still needed to get that clock fixed. Grabbing his jacket he took another look at Andy. It was way too cold for him to be outside. The clothes he found him in were still soaking wet, and the clothes Oscar lent him didn’t fit him very well. If he did indeed have a head injury he didn't want to risk him falling and hurting himself again. He’d have to leave him here. 

“Andy…” Oscar sat on the table facing him. Andy stopped playing and looked at Oscar with his full attention. Oscar was once again taken aback at how blue his eyes were. He shook himself out of that thought and continued. “I have to run a few errands. You can stay here, but do not touch anything. Do you understand?” Oscar asked him firmly. 

“Of course.” Andy nodded. Oscar pulled out his phone and took a quick photo of him and put it back in his pocket. Andy looked at the phone in confusion. “Just in case I come back and you’ve robbed me blind.” Oscar joked, but Andy didn’t seem to find that particularly funny.

“I would never steal from you, Uncle Oscar.” Andy said seriously. Oscar looked at him confused.

“Uncle Oscar?” He asked. 

“The colorful letter on the big box.” Andy pointed to Oscar’s kitchen. Oscar could see the picture his nephew had drawn to “Uncle Oscar” hanging on his fridge.

“Oscar.” He said to Andy. “You can just call me Oscar.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Oscar.” Andy held his hand out for a shake and Oscar hesitated slightly.

“You’re not going to try to kiss my hand again, are you?” He asked, semi-joking. Andy looked up and around them before looking back at Oscar.

“There’s no mistletoe in here.” He responded. Oscar grasped Andy’s hand in his and gave it a small shake.

“Nice to meet you too, Andy.” Oscar said, not yet sure if he really believed that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of times people say "hot cocoa" in Christmas movies is obnoxious. I've never seen anyone call it that outside of a Christmas movie in my life. However, I do feel like magical Christmas Andy would definitely have strong feelings that there is a difference between the two.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Against his better judgement, Oscar let's Andy stay.

Oscar drove very slowly down Vine Street, being very mindful of the icy roads. He’d gone up and down this street four times and he couldn’t find that damned antique shop. He knew for a fact this was the street. He had a receipt from the toy store that he’d gone right before the antique shop confirming this was in fact the same street. However, no matter how many times he’d driven around he couldn’t seem to find it.

Bundling himself up Oscar got out of his car walked up and down both sides of the street, looking into every window of every shop he passed. It didn’t make any sense. After almost an hour of searching Oscar decided that it was time to give up. He’d get his mother something else if and when he ever got to Miami and he’d deal with this mess with the clock after the holiday when the snow melted. 

Looking down at his watch Oscar frowned at the time. He really didn’t plan on leaving Andy in his house this long. God knows what he might’ve gotten into since Oscar left him in front of the television. Before heading back Oscar just needed to make two quick stops and then he'd head right back to his, hopefully still standing and unburgled home. Firstly he needed to get some actual clothes for Andy to wear. It just didn’t feel right to kick him out wearing what he found him in. Oscar's own clothes that he lent him weren't that much better. Oscar grabbed a few shirts, a sweater vest, and three pairs of pants in what he hoped was Andy's size. He wasn’t sure why he got so many things. Maybe he just felt bad for him. That was probably it.

His second and last stop on his way home Oscar popped into his favorite coffee shop and got a large coffee for himself and a hot chocolate for Andy. He almost caught himself asking for hot cocoa but felt ridiculous even allowing the words to leave his mouth. No one said hot cocoa outside of those ridiculous holiday movies.

When Oscar entered his house, hands full of shopping backs and their hot drinks, he let out a sigh of relief. He could hear the sound of the television in the living room, and didn’t smell anything burning. They were making progress. 

“Andy?” Oscar called out. He placed the bags down, careful not to put the one holding the clock down too hard. He walked into the living room and found Andy sat at the very edge of the couch cushion, watching the television with wonder in exactly the same position he left him. Oscar glanced at the tv. He was watching something awful about college kids in a frat house. Oscar let out a noise of disgust and Andy quickly stood up in surprise having not heard him come in.

“Oscarino!” Andy shouted happily. “You’re back!”

“Osc…” Oscar started and shook his head. “What did you just call me?”

“I was watching the little people and they had these special names for their friends and I thought, Oscar is my friend and I should have a special name for him to show that he’s my friend and…”

“Whoa. Whoa. Slow down, Andy.” Oscar stopped him. Andy immediately quieted. “It’s just Oscar. Okay?” Andy looked a bit crestfallen at that but Oscar refused to feel bad about it. No matter what the unpleasant feeling in his stomach was telling him.

“Okay, Oscar.” He said with a sudden sadness.

“Um, I got you some hot chocolate.” Oscar held out the cup towards him and Andy’s entire expression changed. He walked quickly towards Oscar and took the warm cup from his hands. He took a large sip and let out a contented sigh.

“Good?” Oscar asked with amusement.

“It’s disgusting.” Andy said dreamily. Oscar threw his hands up. He honestly did not understand this man.

“I thought you liked hot chocolate?” Oscar frowned at him.

“Cocoa.” Andy opened his eyes and took another long sip. “I like hot cocoa. This is closer though. Nothing like that disgusting brown water you gave me before.”

“Coffee.” Oscar said slowly. “There is nothing wrong with my coffee.”

“Agree to disagree, Oscari…” Andy stopped himself. “Oscar.” He smiled shyly. “Thank you for the hot chocolate.”

“You’re welcome.” Oscar responded. “When you’re done with that I picked up some clothes for you. They should fit but if they don’t I’ll return them after the holiday.”

Andy looked at Oscar like he’d just saved his mother from a burning building. Oscar wasn’t sure what to make of that look or the feeling it gave him.

“You didn’t need to do that.” Andy said, taken aback. “These clothes are more than enough” Andy looked down at his baggy shirt and too short sweatpants and Oscar looked at him like he was joking.

“I can’t let anyone see you leaving my house like this.” Oscar motioned to Andy’s clothes. “They’ll think…” Oscar flushed slightly at the thought of what people might actually think of a man leaving his house in Oscar’s clothes. “It doesn’t matter what they’ll think, but I would feel better about it if you'd wear the clothes I bought you.”

“You want me to leave?” He asked. Andy’s face dropped slightly. “Have I offended you? I’m really sorry, Oscar. I didn’t mean to light the fire.” Andy apologized. 

“Andy, you can’t stay here.” Oscar explained. “I don’t even know you. I don’t know why you’re here. You obviously have some kind of head injury and you should probably see a doctor, not crash on a strangers couch.” Andy’s face flashed offense but he recovered quickly.

“You’re right. I don’t know why I’m here.” Andy said sadly. “There has to be a reason. I promise if you let me stay the night maybe tomorrow everything will make sense again!” There was a desperation to Andy's voice and Oscar looked out the window. It wasn’t snowing as hard but still enough that he’d feel guilty just sending him away to fend for himself.

“Fine.” Oscar rubbed at his temples. “One night, Andy!” 

Andy practically bounded on the spot. “You won’t regret this, Oscar! I promise I won’t be a bother and I will help make this the best Christmas you ever had!”

“That is completely unnecessary.” Oscar held his hand up. “The more I can forget it’s Christmas, the better.”

“WHAT?” Andy shouted. He almost dropped his hot chocolate but seemed to have caught himself and the cup just in time. “Forget it’s Christmas? Oscar, are you INSANE?”

“I don’t like Christmas.” Oscar folded his arms across his chest. “Never have.”

“Oh, no no no.” Andy shook his head. “I take it all back. There is no way I am walking out of here with that on my head. I don’t care if it takes all night! We’re de-Krampus-ing you, Oscar!”

“Absolutely not.” Oscar frowned at him. 

“Too late. I already have a million ideas and we’re going to do at least half of them. Probably all of them. But definitely most of them. I know I said I wasn’t going to be a bother, but if annoying you with my friendship is what I need to do to get you into the Christmas spirit, then so be it.” Andy looked 100% serious and Oscar didn’t like this one bit.

“I could just kick you out.” Oscar shot back. He knew he wouldn’t. The amused look on Andy’s face told him that he knew Oscar wouldn’t either. _Damnit._

“Or we could go find some real chocolate and I can teach you how to make hot cocoa and not that disgusting hot garbage you’ve been drinking. Apologies.” Andy said, but his tone was clearly not sorry. This guy had some real nerve. 

“I happen to like that disgusting hot garbage.” Oscar said.

“Well then that’s two things we need to fix.” Andy put his empty cup down on the table and rubbed his hands together. “You mentioned something about clothes?” He asked with a grin.

Oscar rolled his eyes and walked to the bags. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is OOC during Christmas and I will not apologize for it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy and Oscar go shopping and find themselves in a familiar situation.

It had taken longer than Oscar would have liked to get to the supermarket. They spent thirty minutes shoveling Oscar's driveway and clearing off his car for the second time that day. Thankfully it had stopped snowing in the last hour, but it wasn’t just the icy roads that had delayed their trip. It was mostly because Andy was freaking out like he’d never ridden in a car before. He was such a strange man. He was also an annoying man. He touched every single button and dial in Oscar’s car and asked a thousand questions about everything. At one point he asked Oscar if he could have a turn driving. Oscar shut that idea down immediately. He wasn’t an idiot. The longest drive of his life later, they pulled into the parking lot at Gerrity’s Supermarket and Oscar shut off the car. 

“Out!” He shouted at Andy who didn’t seem to fully understand how annoyed Oscar was. He just grinned widely and hopped out of the car. As they walked to the entrance Oscar gave Andy a once over. He was relieved that the clothes he bought fit him. As Andy rushed to the Christmas wreaths displayed just outside the entrance Oscar’s eyes wandered and decided that some items of clothing fit him a bit better in some places than others.

“Oscar, look!” Andy picked up a wreath to show Oscar who's eyes immediately shot back up in embarrassment. Luckily, Andy didn't seem to have caught him. “We’re going to put this up on your front door. Cheer it up a bit!”

“It’s a door. Why does it need to be cheerful?” Oscar asked, but put it in the shopping cart anyway. Andy looked at him like that was the dumbest question he could’ve possibly asked. Maybe to people like Andy who really loved Christmas it was a dumb question. 

“Trust me! When you see it on your door you’re gonna love it, Oscar!” Andy was so excited that Oscar just nodded and pushed the cart into the store.

If he thought Andy’s excitement riding in Oscar’s car was annoying, his behavior seeing the huge selections at Gerrity’s was borderline obnoxious. When Andy got to the section of various cheeses Oscar had to keep him from throwing the entire display into the cart. Apparently Andy once apprenticed for a Formaggier years and years ago and knew everything there was to know about cheese. Oscar did enjoy a good cheese, but buying 12 different kinds was excessive even for him. He allowed Andy to pick two, which somehow turned into four. Oscar decided to pick his battles and let this one slide.

Oscar turned them down the baking aisle and Andy’s eyes grew as big as saucers. He rushed over to the selection of chocolate, picked up various packages and tossed them back onto the shelves.

“No. No.” He looked frustrated and started again.

“Andy, I’m sure this chocolate is fine.” Oscar insisted. Andy frowned at that and shook his head.

“No. It’s not fine. This is a disaster! I promised to make you some hot cocoa and this is all trash.” Andy was practically pouting at this point. 

“Give me the strength.” Oscar whispered under his breath. “There’s a chocolatier a five minute drive from here. I can’t promise it’s open but we can try. Okay?”

“Of course they’re open. It’s almost Christmas.” Oscar gave a quiet laugh at Andy’s ability to believe that just because it’s Christmas things would work out like he wanted them to. 

Andy then decided that on top of making hot cocoa they also needed to make cookies as well. Oscar tried to discourage this as he was a terrible baker but Andy wasn’t taking no for an answer. The more Oscar protested, the more items Andy threw into the cart. Oscar found himself rushing to keep up with Andy who was zooming through the aisles to get everything he needed. By the time they got to the dairy season Oscar practically crashed into Andy’s back as he had stopped suddenly. Andy turned to face Oscar and smiled down at him. He really did have spectacular eyes. Oscar, realizing how close they were standing took a quick step away and walked toward the butter. 

“Salted or unsalted?” Oscar asked, hoping the chill would mask the flush on his face. Andy tilted his head in consideration. Whether it was from Oscar’s question, or of Oscar himself he was too afraid to ask.

“Unsalted.” Andy had decided. Oscar nodded and handed the package of butter to Andy. Relieved that Andy wasn’t about to mention the the awkward moment that happened just a moment ago, Oscar waved for Andy to follow him to the produce section. He had fully intended on being on a plane about an hour ago so he hadn’t bothered to do a food shop. Oscar was still very hopeful that the airport would reopen tomorrow so only picked up one or two things. 

When Oscar placed the food into the cart he looked at Andy with a raised eyebrow at the Christmas lights that Andy had clearly snuck in and did a terrible job at hiding. Oscar didn’t say anything just looked at Andy who was trying not to react. 

“Come on, Oscar! You need lights! It’ll make the wreath pop!” Andy finally gave in and pleaded with him.

“Fine. But don’t expect me to help.” Oscar said as Andy happily pushed the cart in the direction of the check out. 

When the total of their purchases had come up Andy’s eyes widened and he looked at Oscar apologetically. Oscar rolled his eyes and swiped his credit card. He couldn’t even be mad about it considering he would’ve likely spent more money taking his family out to dinner tonight anyway. He didn’t bother saying that to Andy though who was pleasantly quiet on the drive to Gertrude Hawk’s to get the chocolate for this supposedly amazing hot cocoa that Andy hadn’t stopped talking about.

Andy’s mood once again brightened considerably when they entered the store. “Yes! This is exactly what we need to get our cocoa on, Oscar!” 

Andy grabbed a small basket and carefully looked at the selections of chocolates before picking out the ones that he deemed acceptable enough. He insisted that Oscar pick something out to go into their cookies. Oscar wasn’t that big of a fan of sweets so he didn’t much care what kind of chocolate they got, but the serious look on Andy's face made him at least try to be thoughtful about it. He would’ve been perfectly fine with the bagged stuff they had at the supermarket but he wasn’t in the mood to be lectured by Andy so he walked around for a bit looking at the different selections.

Oscar finally decided on a brick with salted caramel. He walked up to Andy who was smiling at the display of a little chocolate Santa and reindeer on a chimney also made of chocolate. 

“Here.” Oscar held the block of chocolate out. Andy turned to Oscar and gently grabbed his wrist. Andy removed the chocolate with one hand and for the second time that day brought his lips to Oscar’s hand, lingering a bit longer this time. Oscar froze for a moment before pulling his hand back.

“Really, Andy? Again?” Oscar looked away, embarrassed by his slow reaction in pulling away. When he looked back at Andy he found him looking up. Oscar raised his own eyes and let out a groan at the mistletoe hanging between them. This one looked like it was made of chocolate.

“Sorry.” Andy said, and Oscar noted a bit of pink on his cheeks. “Rules are rules.” Andy shrugged and walked to the counter with the basket, leaving Oscar standing under the chocolate mistletoe.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andy finds out Oscar has never been ice skating and immediately decides to change that.

Oscar stood in front of the four foot Christmas tree in his living room with the grumpiest look Andy had ever seen on anyone’s face before. On the way back from the chocolatiers Andy had let out a really loud gasp and grabbed the steering wheel and jerked the car to the side of the road. Oscar started to scream at him but Andy was too distracted by the Christmas tree lot to pay attention to any of the words coming out of Oscar’s mouth.

“I do not need a Christmas tree!” Oscar shouted as Andy jumped out of the car as soon as Oscar pulled over.

“Yes, Oscar! You do!’ He responded as he slammed the door closed and jogged toward the trees. Oscar let out a frustrated shout and shut the car off and followed after him.

“It’s two days before Christmas, Andy! I am leaving for Miami most likely tomorrow. I have zero need for a Christmas tree. So get back in the damn car.” Oscar said as soon as he caught up with him.

“How about this one?” Andy ignored him and pointed to the 9 foot tree with wonder in his eyes.

“That wouldn’t even fit in my door, and it wouldn't matter if it did because we are not getting a tree!” Oscar repeated. Andy walked away into the row of fraser fir’s and Oscar was glad that he was wearing a hat because he would’ve torn his hair out by now. “Andy! I’m not getting a damn tree!” He shouted after him.

They got a damn tree. Not only had they gotten a damn tree, Andy had managed to get a deal for some more Christmas lights, a tree stand and a topper. Oscar handed Andy some cash and walked back to the car to wait, cursing under his breath the whole way. Andy, realizing Oscar was not going to help in any way with carrying and tying up the tree, reluctantly picked a much smaller tree, and carried it to Oscar’s car with only a little bit of difficulty.

By the time they got back to Oscar’s Andy had already put up the tree and was working on putting on the lights in front of the house. Oscar found this man extremely confusing. He couldn’t figure out a shower, acted like he’d never seen a television before, but was some kind of Christmas light guru? It just didn’t make any sense. Andy handed the wreath to Oscar and told him that he had to put it up himself. Oscar had refused at first but seeing the sad look come across Andy’s face he reluctantly gave in and placed it on the front door with some hooks. He hated to admit it, but it did make his house look more cheerful. 

While Andy was finishing stringing the lights outside Oscar went on his computer to check on the status of his flight. There hadn’t been too much of a change unfortunately. There were no flights going in or out, but it did look like they were making progress on getting the runway cleared. _Great. Another day of vacation lost._ He sent an email to his family with the update and shut off his computer. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was a little after 2pm. Oscar was making his way into the kitchen when Andy burst back into the house. His cheeks red from the cold and his excitement. 

“Oscar! You need to come see this.” Andy motioned for Oscar to follow him outside. Oscar rolled his eyes but grabbed his jacket and went to look at what Andy had done. They stood at the far end of the driveway where Andy made a ‘ta-da’ motion with his hands at Oscar’s house. It looked nice and he said as much to Andy.

“Well, it’s still light out. You’ll get the full effect at night.” Andy elbowed Oscar gently and headed back into the house. Oscar gave his house one last look before following him back inside.

Andy wanted to get started on the hot cocoa and cookies, but Oscar insisted that they eat actual food first. He’d only had two coffees, and Andy just the hot chocolate so far. The last thing either of them needed was all that extra sugar. Andy was hyper enough for the both of them. Food first, sweets later. Andy was not at all happy about this but quietly snacked on some cheese and crackers while Oscar made them both sandwiches. 

“So…” Oscar started between bites of his food. “You’re really into Christmas.” It was an observation more than a question. 

“I love it, Oscar. The music and the lights. The presents and the magic of it all.” Oscar could see the excitement in his eyes. Oscar can’t remember ever having been so happy about anything in his life.

“You’re thinking about something.” Oscar wasn’t sure why he cared so much about what Andy was thinking. Something about him was just so strange, but Oscar wanted to know more.

“When I was little I used to go ice skating every Christmas morning. It was almost as good as getting presents.”

“Almost?”

“Don’t be ridiculous Oscar. There is nothing better than getting presents on Christmas.”

“Presents are nice, I’ll give you that. I’ve never been ice skating so I’ll take your word for it on that one.” Oscar said, finishing his sandwich. Andy’s own dropped out of his hands and onto the plate with a thump.

“You’ve never been ice skating?” Andy looked at him incredulously. “We need to go right now.”

“I thought you wanted to make cookies?” Oscar asked with a grimace. He really didn’t want to go back out. It was freezing cold, and it was going to start getting dark soon. He hated being out at night in the cold.

“I told you I was going to make this the best Christmas you’ve ever had and if that means me and my best bro gettin’ our skate on then that’s what we gotta do.” Oscar wrinkled his nose at Andy’s words.

“No more television for you.” Oscar decided. 

“You’re going to love it. I know you will.” Andy quickly finished his sandwich and told Oscar to put on his warmest clothes. Andy threw on the sweater vest on top of the button down for the extra warmth. Oscar hated that he had such a great sense of style because Andy looked really good in the clothes he had bought for him. Andy raised an eyebrow at Oscar who looked away quickly, pink staining his cheeks.

“I’ll be right back.” Oscar mumbled as he made his way into his bedroom. He took a deep breath as he heard Andy strumming his lute from the living room while he waited. Shaking off the weird feeling in his stomach, probably just waited too long to eat actual food, Oscar quickly put on a pair of jeans and a thicker sweater. He rejoined Andy who jumped up from the couch with a bit of a hop and placed his lute down.

“You look really nice, Oscar! We’re both looking extra Christmassy!” Andy said with excitement. Oscar looked at him in confusion until it dawned on him. Andy’s vest was green and Oscar’s sweater was red.

“I’m going to go and change again, actually.” Oscar went to walk back to his room but Andy reached out and grabbed his wrist. Oscar felt his breath hitch at the contact. That was new.

“No deal! Get your coat on before we have to dig your car out again!” Andy walked to the front door and watched Oscar with impatience. Oscar was tempted to take his time putting his scarf and hat on but the longer Andy stared at him, the more he wanted to just hurry up so he’d stop. It didn’t make him uncomfortable exactly. He just couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. Not that he had much time to think about it, because as soon as he buttoned the last button Andy had his hand on him again and dragged him out of the door.

On the ride over to the park Andy asked again if he could drive. Again, Oscar told him no. Andy just rolled his eyes at him and looked out the window instead. He pointed out all the decorations and described them to Oscar who was too busy paying attention to the icy roads to look at the houses as they drove by. If he was being honest, he liked hearing Andy describe the way the lights looked like rain drops frozen in time. He even liked the way Andy hummed that same Christmas tune over and over again. He kept meaning to ask Andy what the name of it was, but he didn’t want to interrupt him.

By the time they arrived at the park, Andy was practically vibrating in his seat. Oscar had warned him about jumping out of the car while the engine was still running and Oscar was relieved to see that he actually listened this time. He glanced out the window and let out a short sigh at the number of people he saw making their way into the park. He glanced over at Andy who was staring at him with the most impatient look he’d ever seen. 

“Fine.” Oscar shut off the car. “Let’s get this over with.” Andy smiled and jumped out of the car. Oscar pulled his coat tightly around himself to fight off the chill and followed Andy down the path into the park where the ice skating rink was.

Andy was going on about proper technique to keep from falling and Oscar knew he should be paying attention but he found his eyes wandering to the people around them. Everyone was wearing festive sweaters, and were smiling and just looked… happy. He couldn’t remember the last time he actually went out and did anything for the holidays. He was so distracted by his thoughts that he knocked into Andy who had stopped right in front of the entrance to the skating rink. Andy looked at him in surprise when Oscar apologized.

“Sorry.” Oscar gave him a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I guess I’m just nervous.” He lied. Andy gave him a warm smile and put his hand on Oscar’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t lost anyone yet!” He said encouragingly as they made their way to rent their skates. 

“Yet?” Oscar asked. “That’s not comforting.”

“I promise,” he looked Oscar straight in the eye. “I won’t let you fall.” Oscar couldn’t quite find his voice after that and just nodded. 

His trust that Andy wouldn’t let him fall was put to the test not ten minutes later when Oscar refused to let go of the side railing when he actually got out on the ice. 

“Let go, Oscar! You’ll be fine!” Andy skated over to him with an ease that Oscar was jealous of.

“This was a terrible idea. I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Oscar was panicking now. “I could fall and slice my hand or leg with a skate. They’re very sharp, Andy!”

“You’re not going to fall.” He pried Oscar’s hand off railing and took both of his hands in his. “Come on, we’ll go slow.”

Oscar looked up into Andy’s stupidly blue eyes and tried to find any hint that he was going to play a joke on him. He could only see sincerity and let out a shaky breath and pushed off. Andy held his hands tightly as he skated backwards, going slow to match Oscar’s comfort level.

“There you go!” Andy said, excited. They did a few laps around, picking up speed before Oscar would second guess himself and grip Andy tighter when he tried to let go.

“Don’t you dare let go, or I will leave you here, I swear it!” Oscar warned. Andy laughed and squeezed his hands.

“I won’t let go.” He promised. “Don’t look at your feet, keep your eyes on me.” Andy instructed. Oscar looked up at Andy and slackened his grip a bit. Andy took this as permission to lighten his own grip and soon Oscar let his hands go all together. 

Oscar, realizing he was now skating on his own without help, looked up at Andy with a blindingly bright smile. Andy’s eyes widened and he sucked in a quick breath and before Oscar could even begin to process what that look meant Andy stopped short and fell back onto the ice with an undignified yelp.

Oscar, not having learned how to actually stop, had no choice but to follow him down landing half on top of him and half on the ice. They both let out a groan of pain and Oscar was ready to yell at Andy for breaking his promise until he looked down at him. Andy looked so embarrassed that Oscar found it oddly charming. So much so that he started to laugh at how ridiculous they must look to everyone skating around them. Andy gave him a look of surprise but quickly joined in and started laughing as well.

“Come on.” Oscar tried and failed to stand up which made them both laugh harder. Finally, taking pity on him, Andy managed to pull them both to a standing position and they slowly made their way off the ice.

“I think I saw a sign for hot cocoa on our way in.” Oscar mentioned as he pulled his skates off and put his shoes back on. Andy’s face lit up and all Oscar could think of looking into his eyes were rain drops frozen in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like it's still not cheesy enough. Getting there!


	7. Chapter 7

“This is definitely not cocoa.” Andy said, taking a sip of his drink. 

“What is it about hot cocoa that you love so much?” Oscar asked with curiosity. 

“It’s awesome, Oscar!” Andy exclaims. “It’s chocolatey and smooth and warms you up from the inside out.” 

“And hot chocolate is…?”

“Just hot chocolate.” Andy responds. “Or, hot powder with a fake chocolate taste. I can always tell.” Andy scrunched up his nose as he took another sip. Oscar took a small sip of his own and, yeah, now that Andy pointed it out he could taste the watery fakeness as well. Oscar shook his head in amusement and went back to watching the people in the park. 

“Oh my GOD, Oscar!” Andy jumped up suddenly. Oscar looked at him in alarm but Andy was already making his way to the giant dog on the path in front of them. “It’s a Saint Bernard! Look at it!” Andy started to rush over and then paused to look back at Oscar. “Well, are you coming?”

Oscar took one last sip of his drink and slowly followed behind Andy who was already asking the owner if he could pet the giant dog. “Look, Oscar!” Andy said with a bright smile as he scratched the dog right behind his ears.

“Hello.” Oscar waved awkwardly at the owner, keeping his distance from the dog.

“What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to pet him?” Andy asked with confusion.

“I’m good thanks. I am not really good with dogs.” Oscar was fine right where he was, thank you very much.

“Are you kidding me?” Andy asked incredulously. “Look at him! How can you not love this little ‘Nard Dog?” To prove his point he gave him a gentle hug.

“He’s not little at all, actually.” Oscar pointed out. He was in fact one of the biggest dogs Oscar had ever seen.

“He’s huge, but a big mush.” The dog’s owner admitted. Andy looked at Oscar with those same ridiculously blue eyes of his and Oscar slowly walked over and gave the dog a tentative pat on his back before stepping away.

“I did it.” Oscar said, slightly proud of himself. He was really getting out of his comfort zone today and he would be doing a disservice to himself not to acknowledge that. 

Andy gave him a proud little nod and smile and said goodbye to the dog. Then he spent the next half hour talking about nothing else. Oscar mentally cataloged this information with some of the other things he was slowly learning about Andy. Dislikes: Coffee and Hot Chocolate. Likes: Dogs, Christmas, and pretty much everything else. 

The sun had gone down about an hour ago and Oscar was about to suggest they head back to the house, but something stopped him. Instead he continued to walk around the park, listening intently as Andy hummed his favorite Christmas songs and had him try to guess the name of it. Oscar wasn’t a big fan of Christmas music but he knew enough of the classics to guess a few correctly. He was hoping Andy would hum the song from the car again so he could ask what it was, but Oscar felt really shy all of a sudden. Too much time had passed for him to be able to drop that into the conversation without sounding weird.

“Your turn!” Andy said, breaking Oscar from his thoughts. “You hum one and I’ll try to guess.” 

“Oh, no no.” Oscar shook his head. “I am not a good singer at all.” 

“It’s not singing. It’s humming. C’mon, just do one!” Andy tugged on the sleeve of his jacket.

Oscar looked at him helplessly. He opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to think of an excuse to not humiliate himself. He looked behind Andy and an idea suddenly came to him.

“Let’s take a carriage ride.” Oscar blurted. Andy turned around and his eyes widened at the horse drawn carriage. He turned back to Oscar with a big smile. 

“I think someones getting into the spirit!” Andy said teasingly. It occurred to Oscar that this was the first activity that he suggested and felt embarrassed. On the one hand, he saved himself from having to hum Christmas songs off-key. On the other hand, he now had to ride in a carriage around the park with Andy. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Oscar responded with a pained smile. Thankfully Andy paid no mind to this and dragged him to the line. They had to wait around forty five minutes and Oscar spent the entire time agonizing over the events of the last few hours. They went ice skating, got hot chocolate, went for a stroll around the park and now they were going on what was clearly meant to be a romantic carriage ride. This definitely was drifting into date territory and Oscar felt himself tense at that thought. He didn’t even know this man. What the hell was he thinking?

“After you, good Sir!” Andy gave a dramatic bow and held his hand out to help Oscar into the carriage.

“I'm good, Andy. Thanks.” Oscar mumbled awkwardly as he climbed in on his own. Andy shrugged and got in after him, grabbing the thick red blanket and covering their legs.

“This is so exciting. I’ve never been on one of these before!” Andy said with a grin.

“I haven’t either.” Oscar admitted. He always thought things like this were cheesy and beneath him, but sitting there with Andy’s leg pressed up against his as they made their way through the park Oscar suddenly understood the appeal. Andy gripped Oscar’s leg very briefly in excitement and pointed to the large Christmas tree in the middle of the park as they passed it. Oscar wishes he could say how big the tree was, or what color the lights were on it, but the only thought occupying his brain at that moment was the feeling in his chest at that brief touch even through the thick layer of the blanket covering them.

By the time the carriage stopped Oscar practically climbed over Andy to get out. Andy gave him a worried look, but thanked the coachman and the horse before following Oscar back to his car. Andy looked like he wanted to say something but the freaked out look on Oscar’s face stopped him. They both got into the car silently and Oscar started to drive. He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Andy, not being about to take more than 5 minutes of silence at any given time finally turned to Oscar.

“I had a lot of fun today, Oscar.” He reached out and gently touched Oscar’s shoulder and Oscar, not expecting it, turned not only his head to face Andy in surprise, but the entire car as well. 

They both let out a scream as the car slid on the icy road. Oscar tried to get control of the wheel but they slammed right into a huge pile of snow on the side of the road. Andy had one hand on the “Oh, Shit!” handle and the other gripped like a vice into Oscar’s jacket. They were both breathing heavily.

“Oh, God, Andy are you alright? I’m so sorry!” Oscar began to apologize. He couldn’t believe he’d done that. He was so lost in his own head that he put them both in danger. 

“I’m fine.” Andy let out a shaky breath. “Are you ok?” Andy looked freaked out but Oscar could see his gaze drifting over Oscar to check for injuries. 

“I’m fine.” Oscar confirmed. He took a deep breath before trying to back up the car. He frowned when all he could hear were the tires moving. The car didn’t move an inch.

“Shit. Shit.” Oscar tried again but the car still didn’t move. 

“Maybe we should get out and push?” Andy suggested. Oscar looked at him and nodded. He put on his hazard lights since they were on a side road with not much light around them. The last thing he needed was someone to accidentally slam into them. He knew going out at night was a terrible idea.

They stepped out of the car and Andy bent down and started to dig out as much as he could with his hands while Oscar walked around trying to see if there was any actual damage to the car. It looked fine, just wedged into the snow. After a bit more digging Oscar tried reversing one more time but still didn’t move. He walked over to the front of the car where Andy was standing and they both put their hands on the hood and pushed as hard as they could. The car didn’t move more than an inch.

Realizing they weren’t going to be able to do this on their own Oscar grabbed his cell phone and called AAA to help tow them out. After he finished giving directions and getting off the phone Oscar turned to apologize to Andy again. However, Andy didn’t look at all bothered by their current situation. In fact, he was currently on the side of the road making a snowman. 

“What are you doing?” Oscar asked, even though he could clearly see exactly what he was doing.

“Making a snowman. You do know what that is right?” Andy teased. 

“I know what a snowman is.” Oscar rolled his eyes and walked up next to him. “Why are you making a snowman?”

“Because it’s fun.” Andy said with a shrug and went back to scooping up snow and rounding it with his hands to make a perfect circle. Oscar looked at him half in confusion, half in wonder.

If he had any other human alive in the car with him, he’d still be sitting in his car having an argument about the accident. Not Andy though. No, Andy took what was a pretty scary situation and decided that the appropriate response was not to yell at Oscar for almost killing him, but to make a snowman. Oscar watched him for another minute before muttering “What the hell” more to himself than anything else and bent down to help Andy make the snowman. The tow truck would likely take another half hour and while it was absolutely freezing outside, the surprised smile that Andy gave him made him feel warm down to his bones.

They had just finished putting on the eyes from some pennies Oscar had in his cup holder when the tow truck pulled up behind Oscar’s car. Oscar let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the tow truck driver, leaving Andy with the snowman. The driver took a look at Oscar’s car and seeing as there was no actual damage, said all he’d need to do was pull him out and they’d be good to drive home. Oscar thanked him profusely and moved to the side of the road while his car was being hooked up.

It didn’t take longer than 10 minutes for the car to be pulled out. Andy moved to stand next to Oscar and watched on in amazement. The tow truck driver then got out and unhooked Oscar’s car before glancing over at the two men in amusement.

“What?” Oscar asked, feeling defensive all of a sudden. It was an accident. He could do without the judgement. 

The driver pointed at something and Oscar and Andy simultaneously looked up. Hanging in the middle of the telephone wire directly above where they were standing was mistletoe. 

“You have GOT to be kidding me!” Oscar shouted incredulously. How was that even possible? Before he could even begin to rant about this he felt Andy’s lips brush softly against his cheek. It couldn’t have lasted for more than a second before he was gone. Oscar looked over at him with eyes wide in shock. Andy was looking down at his feet, and Oscar couldn’t tell if the redness on his face was from the cold or from what he’d just done.

“It’s pretty cold. I’m going to wait in the car.” Andy gave a small smile and waved his thanks to the tow truck driver who looked between them with amusement. 

Oscar cleared his throat and finished signing the paperwork and paying the man before getting back into the car. Andy was staring out the window and Oscar glanced at him, wanting to ask why he’d done that. Oscar turned on the car and blasted the heat, feeling his shoulders relax as the car began to warm up. 

Oscar bit his lip in worry that maybe Andy was mad at him after all for crashing the car. He opened his mouth to say something but then Andy started to hum that same song again. Oscar glanced over at Andy briefly, but just long enough to make eye contact. Andy gave him a soft smile and looked back out the window and continued to hum the entire ride back.

“I had fun, too.” Oscar said, shutting off the engine as he pulled into the driveway. 

“I’m glad.” Andy looked pleased at that. “We’ll make a Christmas lover out of you yet!”

They walked into the house and Oscar still couldn’t find the courage to ask about the kiss on the side of the road. That was the third time Andy had kissed him today. They were starting to feel increasingly more than friendly. He couldn’t stop thinking about it and while he went to get changed and grab an extra pillow and a blanket for Andy, he decided that it would be too awkward to mention. They were both going to be gone tomorrow, Oscar on his way to Miami, Andy to… wherever it is he lives. It didn’t make sense to ruin a perfectly nice day by making things awkward.

Oscar took a calming breath so that he could pretend he wasn’t having a bit of a freak out and walked into the living room. He stopped in front of the couch to take in the sight in front of him. Andy had put back on the long sleeve shirt and sweatpants from this morning and was passed out on the couch. He wasn’t surprised considering how long of a day it had been. Oscar ignored that weird feeling again and put the pillow on the chair next to him and gently covered Andy with the blanket. 

He walked back to his bedroom and debated locking the door. At the end of the day, Andy was still a strange man that he had just met. Deciding against it Oscar climbed into bed and immediately fell asleep. In his dreams he didn’t fall this time while they were ice skating. He also didn’t let go of Andy’s hand either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to sneak as many cliches in as possible.


	8. Chapter 8

“Andy?” Oscar called out when he heard some clinking noises. He walked into his kitchen and found Andy opening up a brick of chocolate and breaking it into pieces. 

“Happy Christmas Eve Eve, Oscar!” Andy was buzzing with excitement, and yeah, Oscar should’ve figured that there was no way Andy would be able to go 24 hours without making this so-called life changing hot cocoa that he kept going on about.

“Happy Christmas Eve Eve, Andy.” Oscar shook his head in amusement. “Isn’t it a bit early for that?” Oscar asked, checking the clock on the microwave. It was just a little past 8 in the morning. Usually Oscar would be on his second cup of coffee at this point.

“It’s never too early for the best cocoa you’ve ever had in your life.”

“Honestly, I think you’ve hyped it up so much that it may not live up to my expectations.” Oscar said in all seriousness. Andy looked at him with a flash of offense.

“You better pay attention because you’re never going to be able to enjoy that horrible hot chocolate again after this.” Andy promised. Oscar raised an eyebrow and accepted the challenge. 

Oscar stood quietly off to the side and watched as Andy prepared the hot cocoa. Or at least he tried to pay attention. His eyes kept wandering to the look of intense concentration on Andy’s face. Andy moved the sauce pan to the side while he lit the flame on the stove top of the optimal heat. He rolled his eyes at the questioning look on Oscar’s face and pulled open the junk drawer and tossed a small booklet to Oscar.

“Did you read the instructional manual for my oven?” Of course he did. Andy just shrugged and continued to stir the chocolate. He nudged Oscar to the side and grabbed for a small container of milk that Andy had put off to the side.

“A little something extra.” Andy explained with a wink. _Like milk was some kind of secret ingredient._ Oscar waited patiently as Andy finished and began to pour the cocoa into two of Oscar’s biggest mugs. 

“No whipped cream?” Oscar joked before blowing on his drink to cool it.

“Oh!” Andy shouted and put his own mug down. “I can’t believe I almost forgot the best part!” He moved to grab a container and used a fork to grab a giant marshmallow before carefully placing it in Oscar’s mug. He was less careful with placing it into his own and some of the liquid sloshed over the side and onto his hand. He let out a slight hiss and placed his finger into his mouth. Oscar looked away suddenly when he noticed he was paying too much attention to Andy’s mouth.

“Where did you get these?” Oscar asked, poking at the fluffy marshmallow with his finger. “I don’t remember us getting these at the store.”

“I made them!” Andy said proudly. Oscar raised his eyebrows at this.

“You made… when?” 

“I woke up on your couch around 2 o’clock and started making them so they’d be ready in the morning.” Before Oscar could say anything Andy hurriedly continued. “You can’t have hot cocoa without real marshmallows!”

“Okay, Andy.” Oscar raised a hand in defeat. “Can I drink it now?”

“Of course!” Andy looked at him full of anticipation. Oscar almost felt nervous for Andy. Oscar slowly brought the mug to his lips and took a tentative sip. He pulled back to let the taste of the chocolate swirl around before taking a bigger sip.

“Jesus, Andy!” Oscar took another sip and closed his eyes. He hated to admit it, but the man was right. He’d actually ruined him for all other drinks. Nothing else would ever taste this good.

“You like it?” Andy’s hopeful question had Oscar coming back to himself.

“It’s really very good. You were right.” Oscar took another sip and actually groaned as the marshmallow melted in his mouth. Andy turned his head away, his cheeks flushed and took a sip of his own cocoa.

“There’s something almost familiar about this.” Oscar licked his lips trying to chase the flavor. 

“I soaked some of your espresso beans in a small container of milk for a few hours and then strained it so it would hold some of the flavor. There’s not a lot in there, just a little.” Andy explained. “I know how much you like your coffee and I thought…” He trailed off. Oscar took another sip and there it was. 

“We have a lot of cookies to bake today. We should probably get started soon.” Andy changed the subject as he looked over at the ingredients he laid out on the counter. 

“Sure.” Oscar said with a shrug. “I just have to call the airline and check on the status of my flight. I checked the weather this morning and I might actually be able to leave today.” 

Andy’s gaze snapped to him with confusion. “You’re leaving?” Oscar gave him a similar look of confusion and, oh., right. He never actually talked to Andy about his ruined vacation plans.

“I was supposed to be going to Miami yesterday to spend Christmas with my family.” Oscar explained. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt so awkward. Maybe it had to do with the crestfallen look on Andy’s face.

“Oh.” He said, looking down into his mug. “That sounds really nice.”

“Yeah.” Oscar agreed and finished his drink before putting the empty mug in the sink. They both stood there silently before Oscar finally gave in.

“How about you shower, and I’ll clean up here and we can get started on the cookies?” Oscar suggested. Andy nodded and smiled at him though it wasn’t as big as usual. 

Andy downed the rest of his drink and put his mug into the sink next to Oscar's before making his way to the bag of clothes that Oscar had bought him. He selected an outfit and when the bathroom door closed behind him Oscar let out the breath he had been holding.

This was insane. It had only been one day and somehow Oscar felt an uneasy pull in his stomach at the idea of leaving. Not like he had any real choice in the matter. He promised to spend Christmas with his family. He actually wanted to spend Christmas with his family. Something about spending time with Andy and doing all these ridiculous Christmas activities made him realize all the things that he had been missing out on. Made him think of things he’d long forgotten about.

He may as well get it over with. Oscar put his phone on speaker as he washed the mugs and sauce pan while he was waiting on hold with the airline. He was surprised when it didn’t take longer than 5 minutes before he actually got on the line with someone.

“The runways have been cleared and the soonest we can get you to Miami is the 5:25 flight tonight.” 

“Wow. That soon?” Oscar leaned against the counter. 

“There are only two seats left so I would suggest confirming otherwise the next available flight would be tomorrow the 24th at 8:40am.”

“Right.” Oscar bit his lip and looked at the door to the bathroom. He could hear the water of the shower turn off. 

“Sir? Are you still there?”

“Yes. Sorry about that.” Oscar shook his head. He walked over to a bowl that was filled with different cookie cutters and Oscar made up his mind.

“Tomorrow at 8:40 would be great.” He decided.

“Perfect, just give me a moment and I’ll email you the confirmation.”

Oscar confirmed that he received the email and ended the call just as Andy emerged from the bathroom, a cloud of steam behind him.

“So…” Andy looked at the phone in Oscar's hand and then back up into his eyes with a guarded look on his face. Oscar put the phone down on the counter before turning to face Andy.

“Bad news, I’m afraid. All the flights are full and I can’t get out until tomorrow morning.” Oscar said with a shrug.

“That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.” Andy said with the brightest smile Oscar had seen yet. Oscar laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Thanks, Andy.” Oscar responded. Andy walked back to the kitchen and Oscar followed closely behind. 

“Time for the biggest decision of your life, Oscar.” Andy said, standing in front of the ingredients. 

“Go on.” Oscar encouraged with a nod. Andy held up a glass jar of molasses in one hand, and the salted caramel chocolate bar that Oscar had chosen the day before in the other.

“Gingerbread or Chocolate Chip?” Andy gave Oscar a very serious look as he waited for his decision. Oscar pretended to give it some real thought, holding his chin in his right hand, tapping on it with his pointer finger.

Of course he already knew what his answer was. As much as he did like a good chocolate chip cookie, after the cocoa they’d just had he wasn’t sure if he was ready for more chocolate right now.

“Gingerbread.” Oscar decided. Andy gave him another one of those ridiculously bright smiles that Oscar didn’t at all find really attractive really and knew he made the correct choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one today. I made the mistake of taking a mid-afternoon nap and then remembered I had literally nothing written for today. Not sure how many chapters are left but I'm confident it will be finished before Christmas!


	9. Chapter 9

Both men stretched with a tired groan. They’d spent the last several hours making at least six different types of cookies. Oscar was content to just eat them as is, but Andy insisted that they had to decorate them as well. Oscar didn’t consider himself too much of a perfectionist, but he put every ounce of concentration into making sure all of the gingerbread men’s buttons were equally space and of identical size. Andy gave him a fond look but said nothing else and allowed him to decorate as he wished.

After those were done they moved on to two different types of chocolate chip cookies. One with Oscar’s chocolate and one with Andy’s. Andy insisted they each make their own batch and then see whose cookies came out the best. Oscar did not find this to be fair at all since this was the first time he’d ever baked anything as an adult. Even as a child, at best, he was just allowed to do the mixing. And by mixing he means he was allowed to lick the spoon clean at the end.

It wasn’t a surprise to see that Andy’s cookies all came out perfectly fluffy and golden brown. Whereas Oscar’s were a bit flat and slightly too crispy. Andy didn’t seem to mind though. He took a bite of Oscar’s and declared him the winner. 

They moved onto Spritz cookies after that which Andy admitted were his favorite kind. He said sometimes he’d dust them sparkling sugar, and other times he'd dip them in chocolate. Oscar didn’t have sparkling sugar but they still did have a ridiculous amount of chocolate left over. Andy was almost stricken when he realized that Oscar didn’t have a cookie press, but relaxed when Oscar pulled out a ziplock and said they could cut off the end and use it as a pastry bag. They weren’t going to be perfectly identical but it was better than nothing. After seeing Oscar’s piping work on the gingerbread men, Andy insisted he be the one to pipe the cookies onto the sheet.

“I’d really rather just dunk them in chocolate.” Oscar looked at the mixture warily. “You saw what I did to the chocolate chip.”

“What do you mean? Your cookies were awesome!” To prove his point Andy grabbed one and took a bite. The crunch was so loud that Oscar winced. Andy just smiled and gave him an encouraging look.

He had no idea what to do and Andy insisted that he make them in whatever shapes he felt like so that is what Oscar did. Without the pressure of having everything look identical he felt himself relax and just began to pipe. He made Christmas trees, and snowflakes at first. He tried to make a star but it looked pretty awful and scooped up the evidence and put it back into the bowl to try again. The second attempt came out much better so he continued. 

Andy stood next to him trying to guess what the shapes were and always came up with a ridiculous guess. Oscar pretended to be offended, but it was hard to hide his own smile. On the last row he purposely made things that weren’t Christmas related, just to see what Andy would guess. 

“Is it a Christmas box?” Andy tilted his head.

“Nope.” Oscar stepped away and let out a pleased nod at his work.

“I give up. What is it?” Andy pouted. 

“It’s a television.” Oscar pointed to the cookie and then in the direction of the living room.

“But what is this on top of it?” Andy pointed to the V on top of it.

“The antenna.” Oscar explained and then frowned. TV’s haven’t had antennas in a while, but it was still recognizable. 

“What does that have to do with Christmas?” Andy looked even more confused now.

“It doesn’t. Well, you can watch Christmas movies on the television, so I’m going to say that this counts.”

“Do you have any of those?”

“Those what?”

“Christmas movies?” Andy gave Oscar a hopeful look. He could tell the truth which is that he did not own any Christmas movies. However, he did have cable so there was a 100% chance that there was a Christmas movie on at any given time of the day.

“I’m sure we can find something.” Oscar said as he put the tray of cookies into the oven and set a timer.

By the time all was said and done they had made over a hundred cookies. Oscar looked at them all with wide eyes. He supposed he could take most of them with him to Miami, but Andy would have to take the rest. 

That was another thing. They’d done a good job at avoiding the conversation earlier, but it was something that they needed to discuss at some point. Tomorrow morning Oscar was getting on a plane and Andy would be going… Oscar didn’t really know actually. He glanced over at Andy who was sitting next to him on the couch with a plate of cookies.

While he had been having more fun than he could ever remember having in years, that still didn’t stop any of the questions surrounding Andy from creeping up in his mind. For starters, he was one of the oddest people Oscar had ever met. He knew a lot about Christmas, but acted as though other, basic things were new to him. It was the strangest thing and Oscar still couldn’t understand why that was. He looked down at Andy’s shoes on the rug and saw the words “And D” in script on the bottom just as Andy had shown him yesterday.

Andy wasn’t even his real name. Oscar briefly wondered what the odds were that he wandered out of psychiatric hospital and somehow let him into Oscar’s house during the snowstorm. Oscar knew that they’d need to talk about this, but another part of him just didn’t want to know. This holiday had been slowly turning into one of the best he’d ever had and if pretending everything was normal for one more day was what he had to do to keep this feeling, then so be it.

“These are probably the best cookies I’ve ever had.” Andy broke the silence. He looked at Oscar like he wanted to say something. Oscar nodded and grabbed one and waited for Andy to continue.

“I’m sure your family will like them a lot.” He finally said, looking down at the plate and pointedly not at Oscar.

“I’m sure they will.” Oscar agreed. “We made enough to last through New Years.” 

“You can never have enough Christmas cookies.” Andy said between bites.

“How about you? Are you going to spend Christmas with your family?” Oscar tried as hard as he could to sound nonchalant about it. Andy froze for a moment, but long enough for Oscar to have noticed before he relaxed again.

“Yeah. My family throws this big party every year. Lots of food. Lots of cookies and desserts. It’s awesome.” Andy gave Oscar a brief smile. “What time are you leaving tomorrow?” 

“My flight is at 8:40 in the morning so I should probably be out of here no later than 6:30.” Oscar looked over at his suitcase still sitting by the door. He would need to repack it considering he was going to be there for fewer days. There wasn’t a point in bringing so many clothes. It would also give him more room to pack some of the cookies and maneuver the gifts.

“I should probably get out of your hair then.” Andy started to stand but Oscar grabbed his arm to stop him.

“It’s fine, Andy. You can stay the night and I can drop you off at your place tomorrow.” Oscar hated the hint of desperation in his voice. “That is unless you want to go. That’s fine too.” He finished quickly.

“I’d like to stay. Thank you, Oscar.” Andy’s smile was a bit more genuine this time around and Oscar relaxed. He could feel his heart rate go back to normal and he stopped himself from slamming his head into his hands. _Great. This is exactly what he needed in his life. He was falling for what could actually be an insane person. Well at least they’d be perfect for each other._

“I should actually reorganize my suitcase.” Oscar stood up suddenly.

“Do you need help? I’m excellent with organizing.” Andy offered.

“That’s fine. I can do it. I just want to make sure the toy I got for my nephew doesn’t break.” At the mention of toys Andy insisted that Oscar show him what presents he bought for his family. He claimed to be an excellent gift giver and wanted to make sure that Oscar’s gifts were as awesome as Oscar was. Andy’s words, not his.

Oscar gave in and dragged his suitcase into his room, pulling out the clothes he wasn’t going to need and showed Andy his purchases. His sister had recently gotten into making pasta so he got her an attachment for her standing mixer that he saw in a baking shop that he knew she’d appreciate. For his nephew, he bought him a robot that could be programmed. The last time they talked on the phone he had gone on about how he was learning to code and how excited he was about it. After explaining this to Andy he agreed that Oscar had chosen very good presents even if he didn't know what any of that meant.

Then there was the clock. He was embarrassed to show this to Andy because 1. He thought Andy was sent by the man at the antique store using a tracking device that may have been in the clock which, yeah, looking back did sound a bit insane. 2. He had broken it and didn’t want Andy to look at him like he was an idiot. When Andy asked about what he was getting for his mother there was no avoiding it. He led Andy back to the hall by his front door and pointed to the box on the table in the corner.

“Oh. I remember that.” Andy picked it up and brought it to the island separating the kitchen from the living room. “You handed it to me yesterday morning and said something weird about being followed.” Andy wrinkled his nose trying to remember the conversation.

“I was just surprised.” Oscar walked over to the box. “I went into this antique store and the guy who sold it… well… gave it to me said that it was rare. I got really mad about my flight being canceled and may have had too much to drink.” Oscar recalled, embarrassed by the entire event. “I accidentally knocked it over and broke a piece off of it. I’m probably going to have to get her something else now.” 

“I’m super handy. I can probably fix it up for you.” Andy said as Oscar reached into the box and pulled out the clock. Oscar looked at the clock in confusion when he didn’t see the little man where he left him inside the glass doors. Oscar peered inside the wooden box to see if maybe he had fallen out. Nothing. The box was empty.

Taking a step back Oscar walked over to check under the cushions and beneath the couch as well thinking maybe he dropped it during the confusion but there was nothing there. He turned to Andy to ask if maybe he’d opened it while he was outside and it had fallen out there, but there was something about the look on Andy’s face that stopped him in his tracks. He was staring at the clock with an unreadable expression on his face. 

He just stared at it quietly. More still than Oscar had ever seen him. 

“I know! I'm such a klutz. I freaked out as soon as it happened.” It’s not like he meant to break it. It was an accident. Andy still hadn’t said anything. Maybe he really was upset with Oscar for breaking it. He took Christmas very seriously.

“Are you ok?” Oscar asked, touching Andy’s shoulder gently. Andy looked at the clock for another few seconds, his eyes widened briefly before turning to Oscar.

“What?” He asked. He looked down in surprise at Oscar’s hand on him, unsure when that happened.

“You looked a million miles away.” Oscar dropped his hand and put it in his pocket for lack of anything else to do.

Andy shook himself out of it and gave a forced smile to Oscar. “It’s a beautiful clock. It’s a shame about what happened.” Andy said, glancing back at it warily.

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. How about I order us some food and we watch a movie?” Oscar suggested.

“We have food.” Andy tilted his head in the direction of the kitchen.

“Cookies aren’t food. If I don’t get a vegetable in me, I’m going to have diabetes by New Years.” Oscar joked, trying to break the tension. 

“More for me.” Andy leaned over the island to grab a gingerbread man and took a big bite with an infuriating smile and walked back to plop down on the couch. 

Oscar grabbed his phone to order them some Chinese food and hoped that whatever was troubling Andy would pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to say that there are maybe two more left before this wraps up.


	10. Chapter 10

Apparently Andy really hadn’t seen a Christmas movie before. Oscar ended up putting on the 'Miracle on 34th Street' from the 90s because Oscar had a thing for Dylan McDermott. Not that he’d admit that out loud. Andy sat at the edge of the couch cushion, his eyes never leaving the television. Oscar watched him closely for two reasons. Firstly because he was concerned that Andy was going to continue to miss his mouth when shoveling his Chinese food into it and staining Oscar’s couch. Secondly, because it was nice to see someone experiencing something for the first time. 

Andy’s facial journey throughout the movie was fascinating. To see him go through several emotions, and eventually ending with happy tears when Susan got her wish somehow made him even more attractive in Oscar’s eyes.

When it ended Andy wiped the tears from his eyes without a hint of shame, and told Oscar that they needed to watch as many movies as possible. So that is how they decided to spend the rest of their day. Oscar could see with each passing film that Andy was mesmerized by the story telling. Since he was paying so much attention he also noticed Andy’s eyes occasionally drifting to the wooden clock between movies. His whole body would stiffen and then eventually begin to relax when the opening credits of a new movie started. This pattern went on through four different movies. 

Whenever a character had appeared on screen that didn’t appreciate the fact that it was Christmas Andy would shoot a knowing look at Oscar as if to say, _‘See! Do you want to be that person?’_ Oscar pretended to glare back at him each time. When Ebenezer Scrooge appeared on screen Andy jokingly asked Oscar if he had any relatives who lived in England. Oscar turned to him and said "Humbug!" which tore a surprised laugh from Andy.

It had been so long since Oscar had really sat down and watched Christmas movies. The last one he could really remember was the 'Muppet Christmas Carol' with his nephew when he was really young. Had that really been four years ago?

The movie ended and Oscar went through the options on Netflix and like clockwork he caught Andy staring at that stupid clock again. 

“I get it! I should’ve been more careful!” Oscar blurted out causing Andy to jump. 

“What?” He asked, confused by Oscar’s outburst.

“The clock. It was an accident. You don’t need to give me the guilt trip about it. I am going to get it fixed after I get back!” 

“I wasn’t trying to guilt you.” Andy glanced over at the clock. “It just reminded me of something that’s all.” 

“Oh.” Oscar suddenly felt foolish. Andy had a good heart; of course he wasn’t going to try to make Oscar feel worse than he already did about it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“No. It’s fine.” Andy interrupted. He looked over at the movies on the screen. “How about that one?”

“You want to take a break? We’ve been watching movies all day.” Oscar asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Andy asked. “I don’t think there are enough hours in the day for me to stop now!”

“You sure?” Oscar asked again. He still had this weird feeling that Andy wasn’t telling him something. 

“I’m great. I’d be even better with some of those chocolate chip cookies.” Andy looked over the back of the couch and into the direction of the kitchen. Oscar rolled his eyes at him.

“You know where the kitchen is.” Oscar drew the line at waiting on him. If he didn’t want to talk and just wanted to eat cookies he could help himself.

“Rightio! Can I get you anything?” Andy called from the kitchen. 

“I’m fine.” Oscar shouted back as he queued up ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ A few minutes had passed and Oscar was tempted to send a search party when he hadn't returned. Finally Andy appeared with a devious expression on his face.

“What the hell is that?” Oscar glanced as the monstrosity on Andy’s plate after he had returned to his spot on the couch.

“It’s a marshmallow cookie sandwich!” Andy declared. He had taken one of his marshmallows and placed it between two chocolate chip cookies and warmed them up so that the marshmallow had melted a bit. 

“How old are you?” Oscar asked. “You’re going to end up with a triple bypass if you keep eating like that. Andy ignored him and took a bite, letting out an obscene moan.

“But it’s so good, Oscar.” Andy held it out to him. 

“No. Absolutely not.” Oscar scooted away. It was then that he realized how close he’d been sitting. Andy had not taken much notice of this as he moved closer until his thigh was pressed up against Oscar’s.

“One bite.” Andy lifted it again. Oscar looked down at the cookie and then back at Andy who raised an eyebrow challenging him. Oscar felt oddly nervous for a moment before leaning in and taking a decent sized bite. In for a penny…

“Oh, wow.” Oscar moaned. Andy’s eyes moved down to Oscar’s lips for a split second before meeting his eyes again.

“You’ve got marshmallow…” Andy lifted his hand for a moment before thinking better of it and putting it back onto his lap. Oscar’s face flushed and he stood up and walked towards the bathroom.

“I’ve seen this movie you can start without me…” Oscar called out over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him. He wiped the bit of marshmallow and crumbs off the corner of his mouth and wet his face to try to cool his flushed cheeks. He was acting like a teenager and it was ridiculous. 

By the time he had gotten back Andy was sitting back on the couch only he had his lute in his arms this time. He was strumming softly, but his eyes were glued to the television. Oscar quickly glanced at the clock on his cable box and could see it was approaching 10. It had been a long few days and Oscar could feel the exhaustion sinking into his bones. Between the sounds of Andy’s strumming and the movie playing in the background Oscar felt his eyes get heavy.

“This movie is kind of sad.” Andy observed quietly at one point. 

“Hmmm.” Oscar looked over at him and then back at the screen, trying to stay awake. “Yeah, I guess it is.” 

Andy was quiet for a bit longer before Oscar felt Andy’s hand lightly on top of his own. 

“I had a really nice time with you, Oscar.” Andy whispered. The tone of his voice was almost sad. 

“Maybe we’ll hang out when I get home.” Oscar said through a yawn. He laid his head back against the couch with his eyes closed. Andy was playing that song again. The one that Oscar could never quite put his finger on.

“Maybe.” Andy said. There was something in his voice, but Oscar was just so tired he could barely open his eyes.

“We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” Oscar mumbled. He felt himself slump over until his head was resting on Andy’s shoulder.

“Oscar…” 

“Yeah.”

“I have to tell you something.” Andy whispered.

“Hmmm?”

“Your chocolate chip cookies were terrible.” Oscar huffed out a small laugh but didn’t open his eyes. “And this was the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”

“Me too.” Oscar responded. “We’ll do it again next year.”

“No,” Andy said sadly. “We won’t." Oscar’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand Andy’s words. "Tomorrow you won’t even remember me, or this.” 

He felt Andy’s head rest on top of his as George Bailey prayed to Clarence to let him live again. He could swear he felt Andy's lips gently brush his forehead.

“Merry Christmas, Oscar,” was the last thing he heard before falling asleep pressed against Andy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more to go.


	11. Chapter 11

Oscar woke up in his bed with a groan. He threw his right arm over his eyes to block out the light from outside. He really shouldn’t have drank the night before. Sitting up with a groan Oscar rubbed his eyes and pushed his feet into his slippers. He walked to the chair near his closet and pulled on his robe and looked out the window, braced himself for what awaited him outside. 

“Huh.” Oscar said quietly to himself. He remembered the snow looking very heavy last night but it didn’t appear that much of it stuck. It was all mostly melted this morning. He’d need to check with the airport just in case. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly he made his way into his bathroom and grabbed some Advil from the medicine cabinet. 

He looked in the mirror expecting to see his usual exhausted face looking back at him but raised his eyebrows in surprise. He didn’t look like he had a hangover, even though he definitely felt it. He looked well rested. Hell, if that was the result of drinking before bed then maybe he’d do it more often.

Oscar walked into his kitchen and yawned loudly as he switched on the coffee pot and then grabbed his laptop. He pulled up his flight and let out a noise of relief.

_**FLIGHT 1013, DEC 22, 11:50P, ON TIME.** _

It looked like he had a bit of luck on his side after all. He glanced at the time on his microwave and noted it was a little after 7:30am. He had plenty of time to drive back to the antique store and get the clock fixed and be back in time to catch his flight. He’d just need to get a bit of caffeine in himself first.

“Blech.” Oscar made a face as he took a sip of his coffee. He looked at the pot and frowned. It tasted slightly more bitter than usual. He took another tentative sip and again, made a face. _Ugh. Maybe a little less grinds next time._ It was way too strong. Though he wasn’t quite sure how that could be. He was sure he put the same amount as always.

No matter, he’d pick up something on his way out. Taking one last sip he poured the rest into the sink and washed the mug before showering and getting dressed for the day. 

On his way out the door he made sure to double check his flight status and was satisfied that everything was still as scheduled. He walked over to the clock and picked up the little man and gently opened the door to place him inside so that he wouldn’t get any more damaged during the drive. 

Lifting the box gently Oscar grabbed his eyes and headed out the door. “What the…?”

Oscar stared at his front door in confusion. Someone had hung a wreath on his front door. He was positive that it wasn’t there last night when he got home. He definitely would’ve noticed that. Touching the wreath gently Oscar shrugged and felt the corners of his lips turn up slightly. Someone was probably just feeling in the Christmas spirit. He got into his car and backed out of the driveway, pausing once more to look at the wreath. He looked down at the rows of houses on his street and then back at his own. He should probably put some lights up next year. The wreath looked really nice actually. He’d probably get one next year as well.

On his drive into town Oscar stopped briefly at a Dunkin’ drive through and got himself a small coffee. He had them go a bit overboard with the sugar to get the bitter taste from earlier out of his mouth. This wasn’t much better but he could feel the caffeine helping with his headache a bit.

Pulling onto Vine Street, Oscar slowly drove down the block until he found what he was looking for. It was just barely 9am and he really hoped the store was open. He got out of his car and shivered from the cold. He carefully grabbed the wooden box and made his way to the front door. He looked at the sign on the door with the business hours and then at his watch. They weren’t set to open for another 5 minutes. 

Oscar stood there awkwardly in the freezing cold and turned to wait by his car. Just as he started to step away the front door cracked open a bit. Oscar turned in surprise but didn’t see anyone standing there. Either way, it was cold and he was going to take that as an invitation. 

Pushing his way through the door Oscar was glad to see the same shop owner from yesterday standing behind the counter. At least he wouldn’t have to explain this to someone who wasn’t aware of Oscar or the gift he was given.

“You again!” Dwight said with a smile. He looked at Oscar almost like he had expected him to show up. It was a bit unnerving. 

“Hello.” Oscar responded as he walked up the counter.

“Awfully cold out there. Hot cocoa?” Dwight put a steaming cup on the counter in front of him. Oscar looked down at the drink and back up at Dwight in a mix of surprise and confusion. 

“Oh. I’m fine, thank you.” Oscar said as he placed the box on the counter.

“I insist! It’s a really chilly day and this’ll help warm you right up. Old family recipe.” Dwight pushed the cup forward again. Oscar, knowing that he was going to deliver some bad news very soon, nodded his thanks and took the cup. 

“Wow. That’s really good.” Oscar said after taking a sip. Dwight was right. After the two fairly gross coffees he had this morning this hit exactly the right spot. He could already feel the chill leaving his bones.

“Excellent.” Dwight took a sip of his own cocoa and then looked at the box. “So what brings you back here so soon?”

Oscar looked at him with a bit of dread and braced himself. “I had a bit of an accident last night and knocked the clock over. The little man broke off and I put him back but he wouldn’t come out of his window on his own. I am not sure what’s wrong.” Oscar felt his face get red with embarrassment. “I’m really sorry.”

“Hmmm.” Dwight looked at Oscar and then at the box. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Dwight opened the box and pulled the clock out. He looked in the window and then back at Oscar. He wound the clock and waited. Five seconds later a song started to play and Oscar felt the hairs on his arms stand up but he couldn’t understand why.

Within seconds the glass doors opened and the little man appeared with his instrument. Oscar looked down incredulously. His jaw almost met his chest.

“That…” Oscar stumbled over his words. “That’s not possible. He was completely off.” He leaned down and looked closely. He couldn’t see where he had broken off at all. Almost like it never happened, which was insane because Oscar had just held the little man in his hand this morning. He looked up at Dwight who had an eyebrow raised and was looking at Oscar like he has an idiot.

“Looks fine to me.” Dwight said finally. Oscar looked at the clock again with a shake of his head. He didn’t understand. He knew for a fact it was broken. Oscar looked down at the little man as the music played for another few seconds before it stopped completely. Oscar tilted his head in confusion before shaking it off and looking back at Dwight.

“Look…” He took a step back. “I do appreciate it, but I really can’t accept this.” Oscar nodded his head towards the clock. 

Dwight rolled his eyes and put the clock back into the wooden box. “As you wish.”

Oscar felt the tension leave his shoulders as Dwight took the box and placed it underneath the counter. 

“Will that be all then?” Dwight asked. Oscar turned his head to look at the shelves behind him. He did still need to get his mother something.

“Do you still have that doll I was looking at yesterday by chance?” Oscar asked hopefully. Dwight walked out from behind the counter with a bored look on his face to grab it. He came back and placed it on the counter.

“Perfect!” Oscar said full of relief. “However much it is, I’ll take it.”

“Very good, Sir.” Dwight wrapped up the doll and put it in a bag. “That’ll be $340.” Oscar handed over his card with a slight wince but did not comment. He just wanted to get out of this store as soon as possible.

“Thank you.” Oscar said as he grabbed the bag.

“No, thank you.” Dwight gave that same smarmy smile. “It’s a shame that you didn’t want to keep the clock. It’s quite fascinating isn’t it?” 

“Yes. It was lovely.” Oscar agreed. “I just don’t think it was meant to be with me.”

“Whatever you say.” Dwight took a sip of his cocoa. “Merry Christmas, Oscar.” 

Oscar stopped just as his hand reached for the door knob. He didn’t remember telling him his name. _Must’ve gotten it off the credit card._ Oscar turned and waved back politely. “Thank you. Merry Christmas to you as well.”

Oscar got into his car and made the drive back to his house. He drove a bit slower than normal and took note of all the lights and decorations. _Did they always look this nice?_ He couldn’t remember the last time he really paid attention during Christmas.

When he walked in his door he was hit with a vague smell of sweetness in the air. Just a hint of something like cookies or cakes. Looking down at his watch and seeing the time he shrugged it off. No time to deal with phantom smells right now. He double checked that his suitcase was ready to go by the front door and looked for a carry on to put the doll in. 

Making sure everything was unplugged and cleaned up, Oscar was heading to wait by the front door when his phone rang.

“I’m heading to the airport now.” Oscar said, putting the carry on over his shoulder. 

“Don’t miss your flight, Oscar! There is supposed to be heavy snow this afternoon. I’ve been keeping up with the news.” His sister warned.

“There was supposed to be heavy snow last night and it’s almost completely melted. It’ll be fine. I’m getting in a cab in 5 minutes. I’ll call you when I’m on the plane.” He promised.

“You better!”

“Yes. Yes. I’ll talk to you soon.” Just as he hung up he heard the beeping sound of his cab having arrived.

“Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport, please.” Oscar got into the car and sat quietly, looking out the window on his way to the airport. There were lots of people out, dressed up in festive clothing with big smiles on their faces. It made Oscar really happy that he wasn’t going to be alone again this Christmas. As much as he disliked big holidays, something about this year was almost exciting. He’d get to see his nephew who he hadn’t seen in a few years. He promised him they’d bake cookies when he got there, which Oscar didn’t know how to do but would figure it out.

He smiled at the horse drawn carriage making its way around the outside of the park. There were kids throwing snowballs at each other with what little snow was still left on the ground.

“Heading home for the Holiday?” The cab driver asked. Oscar turned his head and nodded. 

“Yes. I haven’t been to see my family in a while so…” He trailed off. 

The ride to the airport was fairly quick but the line for checking bags was horrendous. He kept looking at his watch and the departures display. His sister would never forgive him if he missed this flight. Finally, he got up to the front of the line and checked in. He had no idea how he managed it but was able to secure the last available window seat on his flight.

Making sure he grabbed his carry on bag he rushed as fast as he could to the security line and then to his gate. Thankfully they were just starting to board his section and he was able to get right on the plane. 

He put his bag as gently as possible underneath his seat. He could rest now. He was on the plane and everything was fine. Oscar shot off a quick text to his sister and then closed his eyes as he waited for take off. 

He didn’t open them again until he heard the clinking sounds of the drinks cart making its way down the aisles. Oscar opened the shade to look out the window. He was surprised he slept through take off but was thankful for it as well. He was never a good flyer. Oscar took a deep calming breath when he froze. There was that smell again. That slightly sweet smell that was in his house earlier.

“Can I get you something to drink?” The flight attendant asked.

“I’ll take a cup of your finest hot chocolate.” The man next to Oscar said pleasantly.

“You shouldn’t drink that stuff, it’s basically just powder…” Oscar trailed off as he looked into the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. He didn’t even know where that thought about the hot chocolate had come from. It just slipped out of him.

“Thanks.” The man smiled brightly at Oscar. “But how do you know that this airline hot chocolate isn’t the best thing you’ve ever had?” He asked teasingly as the flight attendant handed him his drink.

“And for you, Sir?” She asked Oscar.

“The same.” Oscar choked out. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he could swear he’d seen this man before. 

“Cheers.” The man said and raised his cup to Oscar. Oscar gently touched the cup with his own and they took a sip at the same time.

“Ugh.” “Euch.” They said simultaneously. 

“You were right. This is terrible.” The man said, putting his cup down on his tray table.

“Hot cocoa is the only way to go.” Oscar wasn’t sure why he knew that.

“There’s a difference?” The man asked with a curious smile.

“Hot chocolate is basically just powder and hot water or milk. Hot cocoa is made with real chocolate.” Oscar felt like he was having a weird out of body experience. Why did he know this? 

“Good to know.” He took another sip of his drink.

“I’m sorry, but you look very familiar to me.” Oscar gave him a once over. The man raised his eyebrow and Oscar felt himself flush. “Are you from Scranton by any chance?”

“Connecticut.” He said. “Though I’ve been living in Scranton a few years now. Maybe you’ve seen me around.”

“Maybe.” Oscar nodded, but he wasn’t quite sure. “You didn’t used to have a beard, did you?”

“Not the last time I checked.” He took another sip of his disgusting drink and Oscar noted something interesting on his wrist.

“That’s a really nice watch.” The man looked down and grinned. 

“Isn’t it great? I got it from this old antique shop.” He held out his wrist to show Oscar the wooden watch. “I think it was hand carved. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Oscar had a feeling he knew exactly where he got that watch. “Was the shop owner a tall, really weird guy with glasses and an interesting sense of style?”

“Yes! I am pretty sure he called me an idiot without actually calling me an idiot at least 4 times.” The man recalled.

“I know exactly who you mean.” Oscar shook his head. _What were the odds?_

“I’m Andrew, by the way.” He held out his hand. “Bernard. My friends call me Andy, or Nard Dog or Bone eerrr uhhh… actually just Andy is fine.” He laughed with a bit of pink on his cheeks.

“Oscar Martinez.” Oscar took his hand. “You can call me Oscar.” 

Oscar gave Andy’s hand a light squeeze before bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss. Andy looked at him in surprise and Oscar immediately felt mortified by what he had just done. 

“Mistletoe, right?” Andy asked with a blush. Oscar looked at him confused. Andy pointed to the sticker on the console above them just next to the call button. There was a small sticker of some mistletoe.

“Yeah. That’s why I did that.” Oscar said through a grimace. He realized he was still holding Andy’s hand and dropped it quickly.

“Usually I’d expect a guy to buy me a drink first.” Andy’s teasing grin was back and Oscar looked at him in wonder. “We’re both doing some holiday stuff, but when we’re both back in Scranton…” He trailed off and Oscar looked at him expectantly. Seeing that Oscar wasn’t getting the hint Andy continued. “I’d like to try some of that real hot cocoa you mentioned. If you’d be interested that is.”

“Oh. Yes. I’d be interested.” Oscar nodded. 

They spent the rest of their flight chatting and getting to know each other before sitting in a comfortable silence. Oscar admitted that he was not a very good flyer and appreciated the distraction. Andy held his hand during landing and hummed a tune to distract him. Oscar looked at him with wide eyes as he recognized it as the same song he'd had in his head all morning. The song from the music box.

“Are you sure we haven’t met before?” Oscar asked as they were descending. 

“I don’t think you’re someone I’d forget.” Andy responded. Oscar decided that maybe it was just a famous song that a lot of people knew and decided to let it go.


	12. Chapter 12

**ONE YEAR LATER**

“A little to the right.” Oscar called out to Andy who was standing on a step ladder and hanging lights outside Oscar’s house.   
  
“This good?” Andy asked, holding it up in place. Oscar gave him a thumbs up and Andy used the nail gun to secure it in place. Forty minutes and some severe micromanaging later they stood in Oscar’s driveway to get a full view of the house.  
  
“We did good.” Andy said.  
  
“We did.” Oscar agreed. This is how it always should’ve been. Oscar felt a shiver go through him, which he knew wasn’t from the cold. It wasn’t a bad feeling. It was the opposite in fact. He looked over at Andy who put an arm around him and leaned in to give him a soft kiss on his lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt so happy.  
  
“You want to get started on the cookies now?” Andy asked.   
  
“Get started?” Oscar looked at him incredulously. “What have we been doing for the last three days?”  
  
“Well, those were thumb print, gingerbread, and sugar cookies. These are chocolate chip. Completely different cookie, Oscar.”  
  
“Fine.” Oscar gave him an indulgent smile and followed him back to the house. “But don’t go nuts on the chocolate. You need to save some for the cocoa.”  
  
“Like I would ever do such a thing.” Andy said, walking into the house.   
  
Oscar stood at the front door and smiled at the wreath hanging there. Something about a wreath on the door really just brought it all together.   
  
“You’re coming?” Andy called out to him. Oscar looked in his house, so full of light, color, and love.  
  
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Oscar hummed a familiar tune to himself as he closed the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all. I will not apologize for the tooth rotting sweetness and the OOC writing. Christmas movies are Christmas movies and this is how people act in them lol. I don't make the rules!


End file.
